Just as Netflix viewers are engrossed in the cryptocy storyline of Squid Game Season 2, scammers have capitalized on the show’s renewed popularity, launching a fake ‘Squid Game’ token on the Base blockchain. The token, predictably named SQUID, has already crashed by 99% in a classic pump-and-dump scheme. Peckshield issued a warning for everyone on Twitter, but it too was late because, in just three hours, the token already has lost all of its value.
The scam was orchestrated as a pump-and-dump scheme, with the deployer holding the majority of the token supply to manipulate the market. Investors who bought into the hype have been left with significant losses. A pump-and-dump scheme is a scam where fraudsters hype up an asset to raise its price (pump), then sell their holdings at the peak (dump), causing the price to crash. Investors who buy in during the hype often lose money.
At the time of writing, the price of the SQUID, which is only 9 hours old, token has dropped 100% and reached its price of $0.0111255. The scam coincides with the buzz around Squid Game Season 2, Episode 3, where Player 333, Lee Myeong-gi, confronts guards demanding his wallet and phone. It’s revealed he ran a YouTube channel, “MG Coin,” which promoted a cryptocy that collapsed, causing him a loss of 15.2 billion won.
Scammers likely used the show’s cryptocy plot to exploit its popularity and create an illusion of legitimacy. While the token had no real connection to the series, it capitalized on the excitement surrounding the latest episodes.
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