Researchers have noted a growing trend of issuing counterfeit tokens, the creators of which are hiding behind well-known companies.. Attackers impersonate large brands, government agencies, and even call their tokens national fiat currencies. Many scammers impersonate oil corporations and regulators, with particular reference to the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Middle Eastern central banks.
In particular, Resecurity mentioned a fake token called BRICS. Fraudsters decided to take advantage of the hype around the BRICS interstate association, which includes nine states: Russia, Brazil, India, China, South Africa, UAE, Iran, Egypt and Ethiopia.. The BRICS Alliance, founded in 2006, aims to strengthen cooperation between its members on economic, political and social issues. Using the international image of the organization, scammers have already conducted an initial coin offering (ICO), Resecurity claims.
The researchers noted that platforms like Lobstr.co, which allow the creation of tokens on the Stellar network and do not impose strict requirements on users, are especially popular among scammers.
Solidus Labs confirmed the findings of Resecurity, noting that the creators of fake tokens have already deceived more than 2 million investors, surpassing the number of victims of the cryptocurrency platforms FTX, Celsius and Voyager. Scams often occur in the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector when attackers make changes to smart contracts to defraud investors, or when developers leave a project and disappear with investor funds.
Recently, the management of the Binance crypto exchange warned that scammers are posing as top managers of the site, offering cryptocurrency projects the listing of tokens for a fee.. Late last year, the Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) issued a warning about cryptocurrency scammers posing as agency employees.