Trump’s crypto project targeted by hackers, 70K users affected

• Trump’s crypto platform was hijacked by scammers, tricking thousands with fake giveaways.
• Despite the scam, Trump’s crypto endorsement boosts his poll lead by 3%.

In an unexpected twist, a new cryptocurrency initiative associated with former President Donald Trump has been overtaken by fraudsters.

This has resulted in thousands of victims being lured into a scam promising fake crypto giveaways. 

‘World Liberty Financial’ scam alert

Since its launch last month, the Trump-endorsed World Liberty Financial platform has attracted over 230,000 subscribers to its official Telegram channel.

Despite its bold promise to challenge the supremacy of major banks, detailed information about the project remains scarce.

Seeing the WFL becoming the talk of the town, cybercriminals have seized the opportunity to exploit the platform’s growing popularity.

They have infiltrated the official channel with advertisements for their fraudulent schemes, attracting more than 70,000 unsuspecting users.

Remarking on the same, Steven Zheng, a researcher for The Block, took to X (formerly Twitter) and noted, 

“They’re running crypto phishing scam ads in Trump’s World Liberty channel.”

Source: Steven/X

As per a publication, the ‘World Liberty Financial Airdrop’ channel is scamming users with fake offers of up to $15,000 in cryptocurrency for connecting their wallets.

This scam could compromise users’ funds, with the exact number of affected individuals unclear. Additionally, it may lead to the loss of private keys, making wallets inaccessible and causing permanent asset loss.

A warning was issued but…  

For those unaware, in a recent update on X, Donald Trump revealed to his 90 million followers his intention to make the U.S. a global leader in cryptocurrency.

His announcement highlighted WLF, a DeFi project supported by his sons and actively promoted by them.

Interestingly, just an hour prior, WLF had issued a warning on Telegram, alerting users to potential scams and advising them to stay cautious.

“We have been made aware of some ads circulating on Telegram claiming to be from us, offering fake airdrops or token sales. We are not doing any airdrops or selling any tokens at this time.”

Attaching a word of actuation, 

“Please do not click on any ads or links that claim to be associated with World Liberty Financial. We are not doing any airdrops or selling any tokens at this time.”

Beneath the warning issued by WLF on Telegram, a prominent ad for a fraudulent ‘World Liberty Financial Airdrop’ has been visible for four days, despite the warning’s presence.

The ad, promoting fake cryptocurrency giveaways, has remained on the channel without being addressed or removed.