The scam revolved around a memecoin named “Grimace,” which took inspiration from McDonald’s well-known purple mascot.
The hackers took control of the fast food giant’s Instagram page, which boasts 5.1 million followers. They then posted messages touting Grimace as a legitimate token associated with McDonald’s. Let’s discover more about this memecoin scam.
Scammers Exploit McDonald’s Instagram for Quick Cryptocurrency Gains
The posts falsely described Grimace as a “McDonald’s experiment on Solana.” They leveraged the brand’s global recognition to lend credibility to the sham cryptocurrency. The scheme was meticulously planned. Bubblemaps reported that the hacker used pump.fun to buy 75% of the Grimace token supply.
The tokens were then distributed across roughly 100 different wallets, making the scam more difficult to trace. This also heightened the perceived legitimacy of the token.
Source: X
The fraudulent promotion quickly gained traction. Within just 30 minutes, the value of the Grimace token skyrocketed. It surged from a negligible market capitalization to an impressive $25 million. The rapid rise in value attracted numerous unsuspecting investors. They were eager to capitalize on what they believed was a lucrative opportunity backed by a household name.
Value Soars and Crashes: The Grimace Memecoin Roller Coaster
However, the spike in value was short-lived. As soon as the token reached its peak, the hacker performed a “rug pull.” This is a common scam in the crypto world. The hacker dumped all their holdings, causing the value of Grimace to plummet drastically. Within 40 minutes of its peak, the token’s market capitalization had nosedived to around $650,000. This left investors with massive losses.
Source: X
This incident highlights the growing trend of social media platforms being hijacked to promote crypto scams. Scammers use the trust of brands like McDonald’s to quickly attract and deceive a large audience. The hack underscores the need for stronger security measures on social media platforms. This is especially important for protecting high-profile accounts that scammers can exploit for fraudulent purposes.
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