Binance co-founder calls on Elon Musk to crack down on cryptocurrency scams on X
3 min readBinance co-founder Yi He has expressed concern about the proliferation of cryptocurrency scams on social media platform X, owned by Elon Musk.
Recently, Yi He asked on the app whether Musk would take action to address the problem.
Yi He’s fear stemmed from a particular scam that took place on the X platform.
She shared images of accounts that were clearly an imitation of her X-handle (@heyibinance) and her real name.
In one case of the scam, users were tricked into clicking on a link promising access to Binance-backed memecoins.
Yi He clarified that no such coins were issued and that clicking on the link could result in the loss of funds.
“I have not issued any new MEMEcoins. If you click on the link, your money will be stolen,” she wrote.
“Many people fell for this hacker link and lost a significant amount of money today. Is there any way to fix this problem?”
I have not issued any new MEMEcoins. Clicking on the link will result in your money being stolen. Many people were tricked by this hacker link and lost a significant amount of money today. Is there any way to address this issue?
Crypto scams are increasing on X
Cryptocurrency scams thrive on X, with analysts attributing a significant portion of all crypto scams to scammers on the platform.
Scam Sniffer, a Web3 anti-fraud company with a presence on X, has conducted an analysis that shows that nearly $50 million is lost every month due to account impersonations on X.com.
While these issues existed before Elon Musk’s involvement with the platform, confusion surrounding the new owner’s controversial paid verification service could contribute to the public remaining vulnerable to fake name scams.
The service allows anyone with a smartphone to register and receive verification, potentially increasing the difficulty of distinguishing real from fraudulent accounts.
Although Musk has indicated that he plans to address bot and spam issues related to the platform, it remains unclear whether he has specifically addressed cryptocurrency scams.
So far, Musk has not responded to Yi He’s post on X.com.
X accounts hacked to promote scam
Since the beginning of 2024, several X-accounts of major companies and crypto influencers have fallen victim to scams designed to lure more customers with fake promotions.
In January, the US regulator SEC’s X-Account was hacked to publish a fake news story about the approval of Bitcoin ETFs.
Later, the X security team attributed the breach to a SIM swapping attack linked to an official phone number of the @SECGov account. The latest Microsoft account hack is similar to the previous ones and experts believe it is a SIM swap attack.
Similarly, crypto scammers targeted Netgear and Hyundai MEA accounts, spreading scams designed to infect potential victims with malware that sniffs out cryptocurrency wallets.
Additionally, in January, cryptocurrency data aggregator CoinGecko’s account fell victim to a phishing attack and suffered a security breach as a result.
During a brief period on January 10, a phishing link was posted on the X account, falsely informing users about a CoinGecko token airdrop.
The hackers promoted a new cryptocurrency called GCKO in a fraudulent post and claimed it could be used to pay for API services such as the cryptocurrency ANKR.
