New wave of blockchain fraud hits new victims

A well-known group of fraudsters within the blockchain sector recently revealed plans to continue their dubious practices on the platform Blast, using approximately $1 million in laundered money to fund their operations.

According to on-chain analyst ZachXBT, the funds were initially transferred from an Ethereum address associated with previous fraudulent activity to an address on the Polygon network. These were then converted to Wrapped ETH (wETH) and distributed across various blockchain networks via bridge services such as Orbiter and Bungee.

Trap for unsuspecting investors

These funds were used to purchase LEAP tokens on the Blast platform, a move that significantly increased liquidity and points to a new trap for unsuspecting investors. ZachXBT has also highlighted suspicions that the same fraudsters are behind a project called ZebraLending on the Base platform, with a total value of approximately $311,000.

This criminal group has a history of setting up projects that attract significant amounts of money, only to disappear with the money. Their methods often include falsifying KYC documents and partnering with lesser-known accounting firms to create an appearance of legitimacy. They have focused on various platforms including Base, Solana, Scroll, Optimism, Arbitrum, Ethereum and Avalanche.

Call for increased vigilance

Given the frequency of these frauds, the blockchain community is being called for increased vigilance. Investors should be extra careful with new initiatives on platforms like Blast, especially when they involve large money transfers. Checking project qualifications, reviewing audits and understanding fund transaction channels are crucial steps to protect investments. Additionally, it is recommended that community members share information and advise each other on how to recognize suspicious activity to prevent further victims.

Furthermore, it was recently revealed that a non-fungible token (NFT) game called Munchables on the Blast platform suffered an exploit, stealing $62 million on March 26. This happened shortly after Blast’s Ethereum Layer-2 network, which had been holding nearly $2.3 billion in cryptocurrency, launched its mainnet, leading to the release of approximately $400 million worth of Ethereum (ETH).