The post Celebrity Crypto Scam Strikes Again: Andy Ayrey’s X Account Used in $600K Fraud appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News
Now the latest headline shows how dangerous it is to have celebrities promoting cryptocurrencies: a hacker broke into the Twitter account of Andy Ayrey, the founder of Truth Terminal, and left a post about a fake token called $IB.
As the blockchain analyst, Lookonchaain reported, In one hour alone, the hacker withdrew $602,500 from innocent investors provoked by Ayrey’s endorsement of the product. This exploit is nearly identical to a worrying trend of major social media accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers being hacked or manipulated into promoting questionable cryptocurrencies.
Earlier Cases of Deceptive Celebrity Advertising
It is found that celebrity endorsement is prominent in scams involving cryptocurrencies. For example, Kim Kardashian and Floyd Mayweather endorsed EthereumMax, an ICO that crashed shortly after, which saw several individuals sue celebrities for alleged manipulation.
In the same vain, many celebrities such as Tom Brady and Stephen Curry endorsed the crypto platform FTX. It was evident that thousands of investors were upon filing bankruptcy by FTX again faced severe loss of money proving the fact that celebrity-endorsed investment plans are not safe.
Living Safely in a World of Influencer Endorsements
Crypto scams demonstrate how criminals use fans’ loyalty to public persons and their word of mouth to carry out their crimes. It is predicted that a logical move by celebrities and high-profile personalities will be to sell their endorsements to investors.
Social proof of the token is highly recommended and the promotion of the token should also be investigated to check its credibility. By doing this, the investors do not get exploited by the various quacks who are out there to take advantage of an influential personality. By explaining and educating themselves about cryptoassets and their functioning, enthusiasts will be able to avoid pitfalls connected with fake sponsorship.
