Scammers impersonating Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched a fraudulent cryptocurrency, capitalizing on the retail frenzy around celebrity-backed memecoins.
Scammers impersonating the crown prince, who is also the prime minister of Saudi Arabia, launched the token to attract capital from unsuspecting investors.
The “Official” Saudi Arabia memecoin (KSA) was announced on Feb. 17, according to an X post by the account “SaudiLawConf,” a fake account impersonating the crown prince.
The first red flag from the token was the absence of any official government communication and a lack of details on the project’s tokenomics or underlying utility.
Shortly after the scam coin was launched, the original owners of the X account, the Saudi Law Conference, confirmed that their X account was hacked by impersonators, according to a Feb. 17 LinkedIn post, which stated:
“The conference management announces that the official conference account in the X platform (@Saudilawconf) has been hacked and that any content currently published through the account does not represent our opinions or official orientations in any way.”
The scam token’s launch came days after the rapid rise and fall of Argentine President Javier Milei-endorsed Libra (LIBRA) token, which lost over 94% of its value within hours after insider wallets cashed out $107 million worth of liquidity from the token, Contelegraph reported on Feb. 15.
To stay safe amid the current wave of memecoin scams, investors need to conduct more “due diligence” about a project’s backing and its tokenomics, according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert. He told Cointelegraph:
“Don’t just throw your cash at something because it’s got a catchy name or claims to be ‘official.’ Check who’s behind the project. If the team is all mysterious or you can’t dig up any real info on them, that’s a red flag waving right in your face.”
“Transparency is key; if they won’t show their faces, they might just be looking to run with your money,” he added.
Memecoins backed by political figures lead to multi-million investor losses
Another significant red flag for investors was that the token contract for the fake Saudi Arabia memecoin was launched onchain on Feb. 10, a week ahead of the announcement, on Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun.
However, the token failed to attract investor capital, amassing only $7,489 worth of market capitalization since it launched, Pump.fun data shows.
Retail investor appetite for celebrity-endorsed memecoins has been boosted since US President Donald Trump launched his Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin on Jan. 18, followed by First Lady Melania Trump’s Melania Meme (MELANIA) token on Jan. 19.
However, these tokens have underperformed the wider cryptocurrency market so far.
The Trump token is currently down over 76% from its all-time high, while the Melania coin is down over 90%, TradingView data shows.
The Javier Milei-endorsed Libra coin is also down over 92% from its peak price of $4.56 recorded on Feb. 15, shortly before insider wallets caused a $4 billion meltdown for the coin, Dexscreener data shows.
Source: https://cointelegraph.com/news/saudi-prince-impersonators-launch-fake-saudi-arabia-memecoin
Anndy Lian is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur who is known for his work in the government sector. He is a best selling book author- “NFT: From Zero to Hero” and “Blockchain Revolution 2030”.
Currently, he is appointed as the Chief Digital Advisor at Mongolia Productivity Organization, championing national digitization. Prior to his current appointments, he was the Chairman of BigONE Exchange, a global top 30 ranked crypto spot exchange and was also the Advisory Board Member for Hyundai DAC, the blockchain arm of South Korea’s largest car manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group. Lian played a pivotal role as the Blockchain Advisor for Asian Productivity Organisation (APO), an intergovernmental organization committed to improving productivity in the Asia-Pacific region.
An avid supporter of incubating start-ups, Anndy has also been a private investor for the past eight years. With a growth investment mindset, Anndy strategically demonstrates this in the companies he chooses to be involved with. He believes that what he is doing through blockchain technology currently will revolutionise and redefine traditional businesses. He also believes that the blockchain industry has to be “redecentralised”.