As Crypto Market Recovers, Scammers Target Exchange Token Listings

Exchange listing scams have resurfaced as scammers exploit the growing interest in digital assets amid the recent market recovery.

As part of these schemes, scammers impersonate industry insiders and exchange representatives to deceive unsuspecting individuals and extort payments for token listings.

Yi He, co-founder of Binance and spouse of former CEO Changpeng Zhao, recently alerted the community to a LinkedIn impersonator using her name and position to offer token listings in exchange for payment.

She clarified that she does not handle discussions regarding potential listings and urged caution when dealing with individuals claiming to be associated with her.

I’d like to reveal a scam which has happened quite often: I do have a LinkedIn account, but I have long forgotten the password; I am also not in charge of discussing with projects for a potential listing; please be wary of those who claim to be close to me and discuss with you… pic.twitter.com/gpIj41vx92

— Yi He (@heyibinance) January 29, 2024

Scammers Pose as Binance Staff Members

In another post, blockchain author Anndy Lian revealed screenshots of scammers on WhatsApp posing as Binance staff members. 

These scammers entice users with promises of free money for joining cryptocurrency discussion groups.

Lian emphasized that Binance does not offer such groups for passive income and warned against falling for these fraudulent schemes.

Binance’s customer support team responded to these incidents by advising users to verify the authenticity of individuals claiming to represent the exchange.

They recommended using official links from the Binance website to verify contact details and cautioned against sharing account information with unofficial or unverified sources.

“It can be used for the website link, email address, phone number, WeChat ID, Twitter account, or Telegram ID,” they said.

“Please do not contact any unofficial/non-verified sources or reveal your account details to them.”

Exchange Listing Scams Emerge During Bul Market

Exchange listing scams have been a recurring issue, particularly during bullish market cycles.

In these schemes, scammers often target project developers and co-founders through seemingly legitimate LinkedIn profiles associated with reputable exchanges.

Once victims are convinced, scammers demand an initial “deposit” to initiate the listing process, often amounting to significant sums such as 250,000 USDT.

However, after receiving the deposit, the scammers vanish, and the promised token listing never materializes.

The crypto market has been plagued by different types of scams.

As reported, approximately 80% of comments on tweets from famous projects are occupied by phishing scam accounts.

Furthermore, crypto users have raised concerns about a surge in phishing emails with crypto-themed content, originating from the popular content creator platform Patreon.

According to reports on social media platforms such as X and Reddit, scammers are signing up users’ email addresses for Patreon accounts and then using those accounts to send malicious emails promoting fake crypto projects.

It is worth noting that despite losing around $2 billion to crypto thefts, 2023 saw a slight decline in hacking incidents targeting the cryptocurrency industry.

According to a recent report from De.FI, a prominent Web3 security firm known for its REKT database, hackers managed to pilfer $2 billion in digital assets throughout the year.

While that amount is still alarming, it marks the first decrease in crypto hacking incidents since 2021.