Investor Nets $200K While Another Loses $1M in Fake MBAPPE Token Scam

On Thursday, hackers hijacked the Twitter account of French football star Kylian Mbappé, using it to promote a fraudulent token named MBAPPE. 

This incident marks yet another instance of high-profile social media accounts exploited to execute crypto scams. Following the hack, the market value of the MBAPPE token surged briefly before crashing, leaving some investors in profits and others in financial peril.

Within minutes of the promotional tweets, the market cap of the MBAPPE token skyrocketed, reaching tens of millions. However, this spike was short-lived as the token’s value plummeted to zero, resulting in significant losses for many investors.

Among those who managed to profit, a user reportedly invested 2 SOL, approximately $286, and sold at the token’s peak, securing a remarkable return of around 1,398 SOL, equivalent to $200,000.

French football star Kylian Mbappe’s Twitter account was hacked and released the token MBAPPE, which has now been deleted. The market value of MBAPPE tokens surged to tens of millions in a few minutes and then quickly returned to zero. A user bought 2 SOL (about $286) and sold it…

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) August 29, 2024

Another trader, who frequently invests in meme coins, achieved a 4,330x return by spending 0.2 SOL, around $29, on MBAPPE and selling it just three minutes later for 866.13 SOL, roughly $125,160.

Substantial Losses Amidst Brief Profits

Despite the few who profited, an investor faced severe financial losses as the MBAPPE token’s value crashed. A notable example is an investor who created a new wallet to invest 7,156 SOL, worth $1.03 million, into the token.

Someone created a new wallet and spent 7,156 $SOL($1.03M) to buy a #MEMEcoin named $MBAPPE in a single transaction, which is now only worth $9.2K.

This person lost more than $1M in just 1 hour!😱https://t.co/IKsUN14km1 pic.twitter.com/kTF6SQCKT4

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) August 29, 2024

Within an hour, the value of this investment dwindled to a mere $9,200, a massive loss. The MBAPPE token utilized Solana-based meme coin deployer Pump.fun, a platform known for its simplicity in launching meme coins.

Pattern of High-Profile Hacks Continues

This incident is part of a broader pattern of high-profile social media accounts being compromised for cryptocurrency scams. In previous years, Mbappé’s account was hacked to promote Bitcoin, misleading followers with promises of quick profits. 

Recently, other celebrities, including actress Sydney Sweeney and pro-XRP lawyer John Deaton, have also fallen victim to similar hacks, resulting in the promotion of fraudulent tokens like SWEENEY and LAW.