The increasing hype surrounding the PEPE memecoin has drawn the attention of malicious parties in the crypto community, who are engaged in various fraudulent practices that affect the integrity of the industry.
At least 10 fraud cases
In the past 3 days, according to PeckShield, a blockchain security company, at least 10 cases of meme coin fraud have come to light. The company has tracked down and reported fraudulent tokens, whose liquidity was recently removed, leading to investor deception.
Fake Pepe coin claim sites are increasingly common on Twitter. Cybersecurity company CertiK has also already warned about a fake Pepe site that allegedly offers rewards but is linked to a phishing contract. The crypto community is advised to be vigilant in this area.
In addition to this, the official Telegram group of the Pepe coin community has also faced fake accounts trying to redirect members to various websites. The group members have taken action by reporting and banning suspicious users.
Already issued several warnings
The creators of the Pepe coin have repeatedly told the community warned to be careful about connecting their crypto wallet to suspicious airdrops and giveaway claims and have emphasized that they do not want to be associated with other tokens or projects.
On May 5, the PEPE memecoin reached a market cap of $1 billion after being listed on Binance. The token is up more than 4,000% since its inception in mid-April, reaching a total market cap of $1.82 billion. However, a few days later, the token’s market cap fell by more than a billion dollars.
The coin has also been involved in controversies. Coinbase, a US crypto exchange, recently warned its users that Pepe has been “co-opted as a hate symbol by alt-right groups.” Some members of the Pepe community finally reacted harshly, demanding the statement be retracted and threatening to close their accounts with the exchange.