This week, the Binance co-CEO, Yi He, had her WeChat account taken over by hackers. WeChat is a very popular messaging and social media app, especially in China, similar to a combination of WhatsApp and Facebook. The hackers then used her account to promote a fake digital currency, known as a ‘meme coin,’ called Mubarak (MUBARA).
A meme coin is a type of digital currency (cryptocurrency) that is inspired by funny internet pictures or jokes (memes). They often gain popularity quickly but can also lose value just as fast. This incident turned into a ‘pump-and-dump scheme,’ where the scammers managed to steal about $55,000.
What is a Pump-and-Dump Scheme?
A pump-and-dump scheme is a type of scam where dishonest people first buy a lot of something (like a meme coin) to make its price go up artificially (the ‘pump’). Then, when the price is high, they quickly sell all their holdings (the ‘dump’), making a lot of money. Everyone else who bought during the ‘pump’ is left with something that quickly loses value.
Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the founder of Binance, was the first to warn people on X (the social media platform formerly known as Twitter) that Yi He’s WeChat account had been compromised, meaning it was taken over without permission. CZ urged the crypto community (all the people interested in cryptocurrencies) not to buy any meme coins promoted by these posts. He warned that ‘Web 2 social media security is not that strong. Stay safu!’ Safu is a slang term often used in the crypto world that means ‘safe.’
Yi He later confirmed that she hadn’t used the WeChat platform for a while and that attackers had indeed taken control of the phone number linked to her account.
How the Scam Unfolded
A blockchain analytics platform called Lookonchain, which is a service that tracks and analyzes transactions on a blockchain (the public digital record for cryptocurrencies), discovered something important. Hours before the promotional posts appeared, the hacker created two new digital wallets (digital storage for cryptocurrencies) and started buying a lot of MUBARA coins through PancakeSwap. PancakeSwap is a popular online platform where people can trade different cryptocurrencies directly with each other without needing a middleman.
On-chain data (information recorded on the blockchain) shows that the hackers used this activity to run their pump-and-dump scheme. They spent $19,479 to buy 21.16 million MUBARA tokens (individual units of the cryptocurrency). This buying spree caused a ‘price rally,’ meaning the price went up quickly. The token’s price jumped from about $0.001 to $0.008 in just minutes, pushing its market cap (the total value of all MUBARA tokens in existence) to around $8 million. This made it very popular for trading on BNB (Binance’s own cryptocurrency and blockchain).
Lookonchain believes the scammers have already sold 11.95 million MUBARA tokens for $43,520. They still hold another 9.21 million tokens worth about $31,000. This means their total profit from the scam is roughly $55,000.
MUBARA is a meme-based cryptocurrency that became popular because of how its price moved and the excitement generated by its users. It was listed on Binance Alpha through the BNB Chain Launchpad platform Four Meme.
A Pattern of Similar Hacks
This incident is not new; it’s the latest in a series of attacks targeting the WeChat accounts of important and well-known people in the crypto world, known as prominent crypto figures. These attacks often use meme tokens to defraud users (trick or scam people out of their money). For example, Tron founder Justin Sun’s account was also compromised on November 30 in a similar way, showing a clear pattern in how the attackers operate.
The crypto community on X has called these events intense ‘hacker competitions’ that are now moving from blockchain-based platforms to regular social media platforms (called off-chain platforms). CZ commented, hoping his account wouldn’t be next, as he hasn’t used these social platforms for many years. He also made it clear that he would never directly endorse (publicly support or recommend) any meme coins on such platforms.
Yi He has since shared that her WeChat profile has been successfully recovered after external checks led to her password being changed. However, she noted that the bad actors (scammers or hackers) are reportedly still lurking (hiding and waiting for an opportunity), trying to exploit problems in the platform’s feedback system and attempting to add her as a friend again.
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