Failed Solana Token Scheme? Hacker Targets 2.6 Million Indian Cricket Fans With X Scam

Rubmar Garcia

9 months ago

3 mins read

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On Tuesday, Indian cricket fans were targeted by scammers with a Solana-based token. The attackers attempted to profit from sports fans after hacking Delhi Capitals’ X account. However, the scheme failed to gain much traction despite its peculiar efforts to publicize the memecoin.

Crypto Hackers’ New Promotional Method

Delhi Capitals, a team from the Indian Premier League (IPL), recently suffered a social media security breach. Hackers took control of the cricket team’s X account on Tuesday, targeting their 2.6 million followers. The attackers promoted a Solana-based token in a series of now-deleted posts, hoping to pump the price with their peculiar tactics.

Typically, hackers try to take advantage of public figures or institutions with large followings by posing as them. Most of the time, attackers promote Solana-based memecoins related to the hacked personality.

Scammers pretend these public figures have entered the crypto space, sometimes advertising fake collaborations with institutions within the industry. These methods usually deceive thousands of unsuspected users who invest money in these scams.

In this case, Delhi Capital hackers took a different approach. The scammers named their Solana memecoin “HACKER” and publicly declared they had unauthorized access to the account.

One of the posts stated, “Yes, this is a hacked account!” and claimed that they would “make profits” from it. The hackers revealed they use this method to boost their scams, repeatedly asking users to search for the ticker on X so they could see their “strength”:

We will make profits, WE hack accounts on each account the token address will be posted and the token will pump. Search $HACKER to see our strength!.

A quick search on X revealed that this wasn’t the attackers’ first rodeo. The ticker shows that the hackers previously attempted to scam crypto investors and sports fans with this method.

Per the report, Korean Esports team T1 and two crypto-related apps recently suffered similar security breaches. The respective posts displayed the exact message as Delhi Capitals but had a different Solana contract address.

Solana, SOL, SOLUSDT — Solana (SOL) is trading at $128.6 in the weekly chart. Source: SOLUSDT on TradingView

Solana Memecoin Fails To Make Big Numbers

Solana memecoin scams have collected millions of dollars from users before. As reported by NewsBTC, several celebrities and companies have fallen victim to these schemes. Recently, hackers promoted a fake Solana token on McDonald’s official Instagram account.

The memecoin, themed after the character Grimace, surged over 400% to a market capitalization of $25 million in less than an hour. This resulted in approximately $700,000 in ill-gotten profits for the scammer.

Other rug pull scams have targeted the fan bases of personalities like Real Madrid player Kylian Mbappé, and former professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. The latter resulted in a $17 million scam.

Nonetheless, the Delhi Capitals hackers failed to profit from the cricket team’s 2.6 million followers. The HACKER token didn’t surpass a market capitalization of $40,000 on the day of its creation and failed to reach half of that as the scam was taking place.

Solana — HACKER plummets after a failed crypto scam. Source: Dexscreener

It’s worth noting that, during these types of scams, some investors consciously trade these fake tokens to profit from the hype before the scheme ends. This time, most of the token’s transactions appear to have been done by the hackers in preparation for their heist.

After the cricket team regained control of the X account and deleted all the HACKER-related posts, the token’s trading activity plummeted to zero. As of this writing, the Solana memecoin has a market cap of $4,300.

Featured Image from Unsplash.com, Chart from TradingView.com

Rubmar Garcia

Rubmar is a writer and translator who has been a crypto enthusiast for the past four years. Her goal as a writer is to create informative, complete, and easily understandable pieces accessible to those entering the crypto space. After learning about cryptocurrencies in 2019, Rubmar became curious about the world of possibilities the industry offered, quickly learning that financial freedom was at the palm of her hand with the developing technology.

From a young age, Rubmar was curious about how languages work, finding special interest in wordplay and the peculiarities of dialects. Her curiosity grew as she became an avid reader in her teenage years. She explored freedom and new words through her favorite books, which shaped her view of the world. Rubmar acquired the necessary skills for in-depth research and analytical thinking at university, where she studied Literature and Linguistics. Her studies have given her a sharp perspective on several topics and allowed her to turn every stone in her investigations.

In 2019, she first dipped her toes in the crypto industry when a friend introduced her to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, but it wasn’t until 2020 that she started to dive into the depth of the industry. As Rubmar began to understand the mechanics of the crypto sphere, she saw a new world yet to be explored.

At the beginning of her crypto voyage, she discovered a new system that allowed her to have control over her finances. As a young adult of the 21st century, Rubmar has faced the challenges of the traditional banking system and the restrictions of fiat money.

After the failure of her home country’s economy, the limitations of traditional finances became clear. The bureaucratic, outdated structure made her feel hopeless and powerless amid an aggressive and distorted system created by hyperinflation. However, learning about decentralization and self-custody opened a realm of opportunities. Cryptocurrencies allowed her to experience financial control for the first time and expand her financial education.

Moreover, the peculiar nature of the crypto community sparked Rubmar’s curiosity about the other layers of the industry. As a result, she found a particular interest in discovering the diverse perspectives of investors, market watchers, experts, and developers. Her attempts to better understand the crypto space made her realize the strong links of the community with other industries, enriching her perspective of the sector. As someone who spends most of her day online, Rubmar enjoys finding the points where the crypto world meets with her other passions and hobbies –or her favorite memes.

In her free time, she usually finds joy in different art forms. As a child, she enlisted in every extra-curricular activity in her hometown, including music classes, dancing, jewelry making, and the local chorus. Despite her many attempts to learn different instruments, Rubmar only knows how to play the xylophone, which she played for 7 years in her school’s marching band.

She also has a passion for learning new languages and cultures, having set the goal to learn another six languages – currently attempting to learn Italian and Korean. Scrapbooking, paper crafting, and bookbinding are her biggest interests outside of work, constantly taking classes and attending workshops to learn new techniques. The rest of her free time is spent stressing over football matches and transfer market news or feeding cats –hers or stray.

In summary, Rubmar seeks to present entertaining and educational pieces to be enjoyed by everybody, aiming to report on the latest news and offer a unique perspective while adding a meme or a pun whenever possible.

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