$700,000 Lost in Meme Coin Scam

Crypto hackers infiltrated McDonald’s official Instagram account and executed a rug pull that siphoned over $700,000.

By exploiting McDonald’s 5 million followers’ trust, the perpetrators advertised a fraudulent meme coin named the “GRIMACE” token on the Solana network. The token’s value briefly soared to $25 million.

McDonald’s Regain Control of the Instagram Account

The deception unfolded quickly. The cybercriminals, who identified themselves as “India X Kr3w,” modified McDonald’s Instagram to broadcast a mocking theft announcement.

Within just 30 minutes, the fake “GRIMACE” meme coin skyrocketed. However, the hackers cashed out, dropping the token to almost zero.

“Sorry mah n**ga you have just been rug pulled by India_X_Kr3w thank you for the $700,000 in Solana,” hackers dropped a message on McDonald’s Instagram after conducting the rug pull.

Rug pulls, such as this, involve hyping crypto to inflate its value dramatically before the developers withdraw their funds, leaving other investors with worthless assets.

Read more: What Is a Rug Pull? A Guide to the Web3 Scam

Guillaume Huin, McDonald’s Senior Marketing Director, also seemed to have his social media accounts breached. False advertisements promoting GRIMACE were posted on his personal social media accounts. These misleading posts portrayed the GRIMACE token as an official McDonald’s project on the Solana blockchain.

Huin’s account promised that McDonald’s would soon follow GRIMACE holders who listed their Instagram accounts. This tactic lent an air of legitimacy to the scam, deepening its impact.

Blockchain data platform Bubblemaps highlighted that the hackers owned 75% of the GRIMACE supply.

“Used multiple addresses to buy on Pumpfun simultaneously, then spread into ~100 addresses sold for $700,000,” Bubblemaps said.

Despite many red flags, degens traded the GRIMACE meme coin to attempt a quick trade. Hence, it amassed a trading volume of over $25 million in the past 24 hours.

Following the breach, McDonald’s regained control of its Instagram account and deleted all content related to the fraudulent token. Although the platform was restored, the breach left an imprint, reflecting ongoing risks in the crypto market.

Read more: Crypto Scam Projects: How To Spot Fake Tokens

According to a recent Immunefi report, the crypto sector has incurred losses surpassing $1.19 billion from hacks and scams in just the first seven months of 2024. This marks a notable increase from the previous year, highlighting an upward trend in cybercriminal activities targeting digital assets.