Diesen Artikel teilen
Bee Token ICO Stung by $1 Million Phishing Scam
Due to a phishing scam, investors in the Bee Token ICO have actually sent nearly $1 million to malicious actors instead.
Von Nikhilesh De
Make us preferred on Google
Investors in the decentralized home sharing network Bee Token’s initial coin offering (ICO) have been swindled of nearly $1 million in just over 25 hours.
Bee Token, which recently partnered with San Francisco-based financial services platform WeTrust to create a decentralized competitor to home-sharing service AirBnB, launched its public ICO on Jan. 31.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Verpassen Sie keine weitere Geschichte.Abonnieren Sie noch heute den Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter. Alle Newsletter ansehen
However, while the startup runs its token sale, scammers posing as operators appeared to have launched their own version. Using email addresses like [email protected], the scammers contacted would-be buyers who then signed up for the full token sale.
All told, signs indicated that those involved collected at least $928,000 from potential investors.
It is not immediately clear how the scammers acquired investors' emails, though one Reddit user claims the startup failed to secure their email database. The scheme involved emailing victims an ethereum address or a QR code which lead to the address, telling them to invest quickly to significantly increase their returns, according to one user who shared the email they received.
Three ethereum addresses, two of which are confirmed to be part of the Bee Token scam and one of which has only been confirmed to be related to phishing schemes in general, show balances ranging from $100,000 to nearly $600,000. The earliest transaction for any of the three addresses happened on Jan. 31, at roughly the same time the token sale began.
In a statement released late last week, the company confirmed the existence of the scams, saying investors should only send funds to an address listed on the startup’s official website.
Notably, the company went on to state that even email addresses ending in @thebeetoken.com would be impersonators:
“Further, we will NEVER communicate ANY funding address via any channel other than on beetoken.com. If you are solicited to send money to an address (even if it’s from a thebeetoken.com email address, official Bee Token social media accounts, or Bee Token telegram moderator/group), please report this to a moderator on Telegram (@DTodd) and email [email protected].”
In another statement, the company stated it would not use QR codes, give 100% bonuses, accept more than 0.3 ETH or partner with Microsoft.
The startup completed a successful private pre-sale in late December, as well as a public pre-sale earlier this year. So far the company has raised roughly $10 million.
A spokesperson for Bee Token did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bees image via Shutterstock
Mehr für Sie
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
Was Sie wissen sollten:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
Mehr für Sie
How a 'perpetual’ stock trick could solve Michael Saylor’s $8 billion debt problem
The bitcoin treasury firm is using perpetual preferreds to retire convertibles, offering a potential framework for managing long-dated leverage.
Was Sie wissen sollten:
- Strive upsized its SATA follow on offering beyond $150 million, pricing the perpetual preferred at $90.
- The structure offers a blueprint for replacing fixed maturity convertibles with perpetual equity capital that removes refinancing risk.
- Strategy has a $3 billion convertible tranche due in June 2028 with a $672.40 conversion price, which could be addressed using a similar preferred equity approach.
Top Stories
