Topics of general interest, popular products and even those known as “meme coins” can be exploited by threat actors to obtain easy profits at the expense of thousands of unwary users; such is the case of a cryptocurrency based on The Squid Game, the popular Netflix series. Apparently, the creators of this cryptocurrency simply disappeared, stealing millions of dollars from their investors.
At its launch, the developers of this project a paid online game based on the popular TV series, with the possibility of accessing economic prizes if they managed to overcome a series of mental and skill challenges. Needless to say, this project was in no way associated with the producers of the series, Netflix or any other entity.
The game had to be online by the early hours of November 1 and fans had to acquire SQUID tokens to participate. After reaching $2,800 USD, a very high starting value for an emerging cryptocurrency, SQUID tokens plummeted over the weekend, so they have become digital junk worth $0.0030 USD per token.
Just a few hours ago, investors discovered that the tokens, initially acquired in PancakeSwap, barely had a value of a fraction of a dollar and could no longer be sold, as the developers imposed an anti-dumping mechanism that prevented the sale of virtual assets.
In this regard, a developer of the project mentioned on his Telegram channel that a hacking group was trying to attack the SQUID infrastructure, although this is the last official information that the developers shared.
After this brief announcement, the developers simply disappeared from the network without a trace, plus the project’s website (squidgame.cash) is offline and the official Twitter profile was suspended, as the social platform detected what was described as “unusual activity.”
Cybersecurity specialists are clear about this; this is another example of the so-called exit scams, in which the developers of a new cryptocurrency create a campaign that increases the value of their product artificially, obtaining large profits in a reduced period of time and then disappear before prices plummet, thus leaving their investors with tokens without any value. In this case, the researchers estimate that SQUID investors lost about $3.5 million USD.
To learn more about information security risks, malware variants, vulnerabilities and information technologies, feel free to access the International Institute of Cyber Security (IICS) websites.
He is a well-known expert in mobile security and malware analysis. He studied Computer Science at NYU and started working as a cyber security analyst in 2003. He is actively working as an anti-malware expert. He also worked for security companies like Kaspersky Lab. His everyday job includes researching about new malware and cyber security incidents. Also he has deep level of knowledge in mobile security and mobile vulnerabilities.
