Binance Co-founder Urges Elon Musk to Combat Crypto Scams on X

Cryptocurrency Scams on the Rise

Binance co-founder Yi He has expressed concerns over the growing number of cryptocurrency scams on the social media platform X, which is owned by Elon Musk.

Yi He recently took to X to question whether Musk would take action to address this pressing issue. Her concerns were sparked by a specific impersonation scam on the platform, where fraudulent accounts mimicked her X handle (@heyibinance) and used her real name.

One notable scam directed users to click on a link promising access to non-existent Binance-backed memecoins. Yi He clarified that no such coins had been issued, warning that clicking the link could lead to financial losses.

“I have not issued any new MEMEcoins. Clicking on the link will result in your money being stolen,” she wrote. “Many people were tricked by this hacker link and lost a significant amount of money today. Is there any way to address this issue?”

Escalating Crypto Scams on X

Cryptocurrency scams have flourished on X, with analysts attributing a large portion of these scams to the platform. Scam Sniffer, a web3 anti-scam company on X, conducted an analysis revealing nearly $50 million is lost each month due to account impersonation on X.com.

These issues existed before Elon Musk took over the platform, but the confusion surrounding his controversial paid verification service may have exacerbated the problem. This service allows anyone with a smartphone to obtain verification, making it harder to differentiate genuine accounts from fraudulent ones.

Although Musk has stated his intention to tackle “bot” and “spam” issues on the platform, it is unclear whether he has specifically addressed cryptocurrency scams. As of now, Musk has not responded to Yi He’s post on X.com.

Hacked Accounts Promoting Scams

Since the beginning of 2024, several major companies and crypto influencers’ X accounts have been hacked to promote scams. In January, the SEC’s X account was hacked to announce a fake approval of Bitcoin ETFs, linked to a SIM-swapping attack. Similar attacks targeted accounts of Netgear and Hyundai MEA, spreading malware designed to drain cryptocurrency wallets.

In another incident, cryptocurrency data aggregator CoinGecko experienced a security breach on January 10, when a phishing link was posted on their X account, falsely announcing a CoinGecko token airdrop. The hackers promoted a new cryptocurrency called GCKO, claiming it could be used for API services, mimicking the legitimate cryptocurrency ANKR.