ZachXBT, a blockchain investigator, has alleged that a former professional Fortnite player, under the name Serpent, swindled investors out of over $3.5 million in memecoin scams that his firm alleges Serpent orchestrated.
On November 27, Serpent’s detailed accusations of fraudulent cryptocurrency projects, always most often via their hacked social media accounts and misleading investment opportunities, are made.
1/ An investigation into how the threat actor Serpent went from a pro Fortnite player to helping steal $3.5M via meme coin scams launched from 9+ account compromises on X & IG and gambling the proceeds away at online casinos. https://t.co/zR6QtuQW8a pic.twitter.com/Y8ovnEnQgj
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) November 27, 2024
The esports organization Overtime relegated Serpent from its ranks in 2020 following allegations of cheating, and now the esports star is partaking in a far more serious enterprise. As a blockchain security analyst and founder of a threat mitigation system called Sentinel, he presents himself to the world.
Unfortunately, in his investigation of Serpent, ZachXBT discovered that the group has ventured beyond cybersecurity to participate in acts of illicit finance aimed at cryptocurrency investors.
Serpent-Linked Wallets Involved in Memecoin Scams
ZachXBT’s research finds wallet addresses associated with Serpent that have been used in assorted memecoin scams, among other things. The scams reportedly reached celebrities with verified accounts on platforms like X (former Twitter) and Instagram: McDonald’s, Usher, Wiz Khalifa, for example. The hapless Serpent has also lost accounts allegedly hacked and used to push out fraudulent memecoin projects associated with Serpent.
6/ Serpent gambles millions of dollars on Roobet, Stake, BC Game, and Shuffle each month frequently screensharing with friends on Discord.
I obtained recordings of him gambling where he inadvertently leaked multiple deposit and withdrawal addresses.
Discord ID:… pic.twitter.com/nY8GGT6dER
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) November 27, 2024
The scam was not limited to social media, as Serpent dealt with gambling and laundering funds. Serpent gambled millions of dollars on popular online casino platforms Roobet, Stake, BC Game, and Shuffle, according to ZachXBT, which showed evidence of Serpent squandering millions on the various casino platforms. ZachXBT obtained recordings of Serpent’s live gambling on Discord, during which he inappropriately revealed deposit and withdrawal addresses for fraudulent activity.
Rug Pull, Project ERROR Labeled
The serpent is also mentioned in a project dubbed ERROR by ZachXBT, which he classifies as a ‘rug pull,’ the slang for pretend schemes where a maker instantly apparently abandons a mission, leaving the traders with no valuable belongings. Suspicions extend to Serpent linking ERROR’s wallet addresses to numerous compromised social media accounts, as it was reportedly tied to these scams.
It also shows that after the allegations were made public, Serpent started deleting posts from his X account, including posts that saw him appear as an advocate of cybersecurity, advising people to avoid phishing attacks and fake cryptocurrency airdrops.
Now, during a period when crypto-related scams and phishing attacks have become more than a nuisance for the cryptocurrency space, Serpent’s actions are timely.
Five people were charged last week by U.S. federal prosecutors for their involvement in an international hacking operation aimed at stealing $11 million in crypto and sensitive data from people and companies in several nations. The attacks, sometimes ferocious phishing schemes, involved victims being tricked into revealing their digital wallets and credentials.
There have been hundreds of ransomware attacks intercepted by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) before they could spread far and wide and cause major damage, the agency said. A critical piece of this effort has been done by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), to protect U.S. government agencies from escalating cyber threats.
The Serpent case again brings to the forefront the tremendously persistent vulnerabilities in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, where scammers still take advantage of irresponsibly lax user security practices and the unsecure nature of social media platforms. While blockchain investigators and authorities have gotten increasingly vigilant, cryptocurrency fraud is still an ongoing problem for investors and the rest of the industry.
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