Hackers push $460M crypto scam via soccer star’s X account — $1M lost in minutes
On Wednesday, hackers controlled soccer star Kylian Mbappe's X account and pushed a crypto scam on his 14 million followers.ESPN reported that Mbappe is fresh off a transfer to Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid. The deal will see him make over $16 million per year in salary and receive a $166 million signing bonus spread out over the five years of his contract.The soccer player hadn't made any posts on his X account for about two weeks until a hacker allegedly started sharing memes and statements to his 14.4 million fans.'This person lost more than $1M in just 1 hour!'The posts included mocking fellow soccer star Lionel Messi, trolling different professional teams, and even making political statements."F*** Israel," a post said with a clown emoji.About six minutes later, the account made another post with four Palestinian flags, reading, "FREE PALESTINE."Aside from the fun and games, the hacker promoted a crypto currency pump-and-dump scheme making off with a large sum of money.With the stolen account, the hacker promoted the coin $MBAPPE, inflating its value by a reported 4,000%. According to Cointelegraph, the hacker's post boosted the coin's market cap to a whopping $460 million before it tanked to less than $100,000 in value.The hacker made off with an alleged $100,000 profit in about an hour. 'Don’t fall for the $MBAPPE scam.'However, some savvy investors, likely not involved in the scam, made some money by quickly buying and selling the coin.One unknown person made a profit of about $125,000 when they bought shares worth $28 when the market cap was at just $80,000.Other reports popped up about another investor losing around $1 million:"Someone created a new wallet and spent [$1.03M] to buy ... $MBAPPE in a single transaction," the popular crypto page Lookonchain wrote."[It] is now only worth $9.2K. This person lost more than $1M in just 1 hour!"The scam spread so rapidly that even popular trading platform Crypto.com warned its followers about falling for it."Don’t fall for the $MBAPPE scam," it wrote. "Scammers hacked Kyllian [sic] Mbappe's X account today to promote a scam," the attached image said.Interestingly, the scam mirrors other schemes made by celebrities over recent years. Simply put, notable people can create a coin, buy a significant portion of it, and promote it to their followers as their latest project. Once the market cap is inflated, creators can sell off their shares for a profit. This may not rise to the level of criminal unless they recommend their followers buy-in.According to Investopedia, a scheme becomes illegal when it makes promises/recommendations about a stock or security based on false, misleading, or greatly exaggerated statements.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
On Wednesday, hackers controlled soccer star Kylian Mbappe's X account and pushed a crypto scam on his 14 million followers.
ESPN reported that Mbappe is fresh off a transfer to Spanish soccer giant Real Madrid. The deal will see him make over $16 million per year in salary and receive a $166 million signing bonus spread out over the five years of his contract.
The soccer player hadn't made any posts on his X account for about two weeks until a hacker allegedly started sharing memes and statements to his 14.4 million fans.
'This person lost more than $1M in just 1 hour!'
The posts included mocking fellow soccer star Lionel Messi, trolling different professional teams, and even making political statements.
"F*** Israel," a post said with a clown emoji.
About six minutes later, the account made another post with four Palestinian flags, reading, "FREE PALESTINE."
Aside from the fun and games, the hacker promoted a crypto currency pump-and-dump scheme making off with a large sum of money.
With the stolen account, the hacker promoted the coin $MBAPPE, inflating its value by a reported 4,000%. According to Cointelegraph, the hacker's post boosted the coin's market cap to a whopping $460 million before it tanked to less than $100,000 in value.
The hacker made off with an alleged $100,000 profit in about an hour.
'Don’t fall for the $MBAPPE scam.'
However, some savvy investors, likely not involved in the scam, made some money by quickly buying and selling the coin.
One unknown person made a profit of about $125,000 when they bought shares worth $28 when the market cap was at just $80,000.
Other reports popped up about another investor losing around $1 million:
"Someone created a new wallet and spent [$1.03M] to buy ... $MBAPPE in a single transaction," the popular crypto page Lookonchain wrote.
"[It] is now only worth $9.2K. This person lost more than $1M in just 1 hour!"
The scam spread so rapidly that even popular trading platform Crypto.com warned its followers about falling for it.
"Don’t fall for the $MBAPPE scam," it wrote. "Scammers hacked Kyllian [sic] Mbappe's X account today to promote a scam," the attached image said.
Interestingly, the scam mirrors other schemes made by celebrities over recent years. Simply put, notable people can create a coin, buy a significant portion of it, and promote it to their followers as their latest project. Once the market cap is inflated, creators can sell off their shares for a profit. This may not rise to the level of criminal unless they recommend their followers buy-in.
According to Investopedia, a scheme becomes illegal when it makes promises/recommendations about a stock or security based on false, misleading, or greatly exaggerated statements.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
Originally Published at Daily Wire, World Net Daily, or The Blaze
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