The altcoins market is bustling with new all-time highs and crypto scammers are once again round the corner. Members of the popular WallStreetBets Reddit forum were recently targeted by a spammy and dummy Telegram group duping investors of $2 million in losses.

In the latest crypto scam, a dummy Telegram account dubbed ‘WallStreetBets Crypto Pumps’ swayed investors on buying the new token called WSB Finance even before its listing on the exchange. This Telegram account is in no way linked to the infamous Reddit stock board WallStreetBets responsible for the GameStop (NYSE: GME) earlier this year on Wall Street.

The Telegram spam account coaxed buyers by saying that it was a pre-mine sale of the WSB Finance and that they would benefit from cashing out in the latest crypto market rally. As we know, there’s some solid rally in the altcoin space in recent times and even some lesser-known altcoins are giving outsized returns.

The Telegram account told investors to send Binance Coin (BNB) or Ether (ETH) to their crypto wallet and in turn, receive the WSB Finance coins. As it turns out, investors never received those coins again. As the Bloomberg report mentions:

“More than 3,451 Binance Coin tokens were removed Tuesday from the wallet listed in the Crypto Pumps messages, according to data from BscScan, a validator on the Binance Smart Chain, a blockchain network that runs so-called smart-contract applications. At Binance Coin’s current price of $625, that comes to more than $2.1 million and doesn’t account for any Ether the account may have been sent”.

The dummy ‘WallStreetBets – Crypto Pumps’ account has been deleted from Telegram now. Last month, the original WallStreetBets Reddit forum started crypto discussions on Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Dogecoin (DOGE), however, had opted out later after accusations of pump and dump.

WallStreetBets Introduces Blockchain App to Fight Manipulation

To combat the market manipulation and stay away from it, WallStreetBets is considering the option to build a Blockchain App in a move to decentralize indices. The official press release notes:

“The step towards blockchain-based finance represents a change of course for the unofficial, hierarchy-free movement of largely pseudonymous participants, whose shared mission is to fight back against corrupt institutions and to end dependence on them altogether”.

About Author

Bhushan Akolkar

Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.