The X account of French football star Kylian Mbappe was reportedly hacked on August 29, with the attackers posting multiple messages promoting a suspicious cryptocurrency named ‘$MBAPPE.’
The posts, which also included opinions on contentious topics such as the Israel-Palestine conflict, caught the attention of many, leading to significant financial losses for some.
Investor Loses Over $1 Million
According to data from analytics firm Lookonchain, an unwitting victim of the fraudulent activity on the football star’s social account created a new wallet and invested 7,156 SOL, equivalent to $1.03 million, into the $MBAPPE token.
Unfortunately, the value of the outlay plummeted to just $9,200 shortly after, as the token experienced a rapid pump-and-dump cycle.
The dubious coin, which was launched on Pump.fun, saw a brief surge in its value before crashing. The Solana-based platform allows users to create meme coins quickly and inexpensively. However, while this ease of use has attracted many, it also poses risks as evidenced by the Mbappe incident.
Quick Profits and Swift Deletion
Interestingly, even with some users getting caught off guard by the scam, others apparently managed to profit from it. For instance, crypto journalist Colin Wu reported that one person put in just 2 SOL, which translates to about $286, into the $MBAPPE token and sold their stash with the price at its peak, earning around 1,398 SOL, equivalent to $200,000.
The legitimacy of the posts had been questioned by many, with some speculating if Mbappe himself could have been involved. However, it soon became clear that his account had been compromised. The messages have since been removed from his profile.
According to various reports, the scammers behind the fake cryptocurrency sold more than 90,000 units before disappearing. One of their tweets shared an address and asked followers to send funds to it, after which the Real Madrid player would follow them on social media. It is not yet clear if anyone fell for the trick.
The Mbappe attack is not a standalone incident. Recently, McDonald’s had its Instagram account manipulated to orchestrate a rug pull. According to reports, the perpetrators of that particular hack sent messages on the fast-food giant’s social account promoting a token named “Grimace.”
In less than half an hour, with many of McDonald’s 5.1 million followers buying into the hype, the value of the fake crypto shot up to more than $25 million before crashing. Afterward, the scammers used the same account to brag that they had made off with more than $700,000 of users’ funds.