Resecurity has identified a growing trend in cryptocurrency counterfeiting, with bad actors creating tokens that impersonate major brands, government organizations, and even national fiat currencies. The decentralized finance (DeFi) and crypto space, while booming, have attracted scammers seeking to exploit investor trust through fake projects known as “rug pulls.” A notable example is the emergence of a counterfeit token named ‘BRICS,’ exploiting the interest in the BRICS intergovernmental organization, comprising countries like Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa, and others.
Fraudsters launched an initial coin offering (ICO) for the fake ‘BRICS’ token, leveraging the global interest in the organization. Platforms like Lobstr.co, allowing token creation on the Stellar network, became susceptible to such scams due to their flexibility in token trading. Resecurity emphasizes the need for due diligence by internet users when dealing with new cryptocurrency offerings, urging them to contact local regulators to ensure legitimacy.
The analysis by Resecurity also reveals similar cryptocurrency counterfeit tokens impersonating major entities such as oil corporations, national financial regulators, national currencies, and real estate developments. ‘Rug pull’ scams, defrauding over 2 million investors according to Solidus Labs, manifest in DeFi scams altering token smart contracts or exit scams involving extensive promotion followed by betrayal. The low entry barrier for executing such scams calls for increased vigilance and more robust regulatory frameworks in the cryptocurrency landscape.
