Pokémon-based cryptocurrency fraud has been a problem in the past. Fans have spent more than $10 million on Pokémon-themed campaigns this year. The PokeMonFi (Pokémon) venture has disappeared in a haze of smoke, reportedly per Twitter information collated by cybersecurity company CertiK, with the official Twitter handle being removed and the worth of the project’s two digital coins, $PMC and $PMF, plummeting to zero. Investors’ money is seized in this Pokémon-themed Ponzi scheme without the games, NFTs, or other blockchain-based content ever appearing.
A rug pull is a type of cryptocurrency scam that happens if a group arbitrarily inflates the value of their token and then vanishes with the money, abandoning a worthless token. Rug pulling is a type of escape fraud and decentralised finance (DeFi) exploit.
Crypto Rug Pull with a Pokémon theme
A cyber-security company called CertiK Alert tweeted that the price of PokeMonFi, crypto featuring a Pokémon motif, has fallen by 99%. The rug is now being pulled out from under this sector.
The two coins in question, PMC and PMF, were also instantly lowered to zero. The rug has so far totalled $708,00 in value.
We are seeing a #rug on @PMFi_Official which has dropped >99%. The 2 tokens associated are $PMC and $PMF & went straight to zero. They are both linked to the deployer's wallet. So far, the total amount of the rug is ~$708,000 USD
Bsc:0x0aa5
Stay vigilant! pic.twitter.com/r8Lgn0n7Wu
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) August 24, 2022
How is the rug pull performed?
The PokeMonFi project, according to CertiK, has essentially disappeared in a whiff of smoke and had its official Twitter account shut down.
Additionally, it permitted the PMC and PMF, 2 of its digital currencies, to lose all of their value. After reportedly making off with the money, the initiative cancelled its Twitter account, but its website was still up and running.
This rug-pull scam with a Pokémon theme is the most recent in a long line of them. The projects take the money and run after failing to produce blockchain-based games, NFTs, or other claimed content. In a months-long crime that started in April, scammers exploited Pokémon NFTs in a play-to-earn game to defraud prospective customers out of almost $700,000.
The website claims that this one is minor in comparison to at least three previous cryptocurrency Pokémon frauds that have each taken millions of dollars since February. However, it seems that the $708,00 amount attracted some scam artists’ interest, and one would assume that the alleged theft of the Pokémon IP would have been a warning sign. Users did pay into PokeMonFi, though, even if it seemed to be a far poorer imitation.
Pokémon-based cryptos from the past rug pull
Pokémon-based cryptos have already been the focus of scams. Users have paid more than $10 million in costs related to this year’s Pokémon-themed campaigns. However, it excludes any potential compensation that Nintendo would be due for blatantly taking the company’s intellectual property. For instance, in June, the Animoon project’s hackers duped users of $6.3 million. The Animoon project has a history of making too many promises and failing to deliver on them.
The features of the dividend-paying Legendary NFTs evolved due to its repeated failure to provide the supplies promised. But by ruggedizing the project, the project team went above and above. The crooks who created the bankrupt PokeMoney gaming venture also pocketed $3.5 million in May.
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