An astrology-themed NFT project called “Web3 Lucky Star Currency” (LSC) has reportedly pulled off an exit scam, defrauding investors of over $1 million. This article delves into the details of the fraudulent incident as reported by the blockchain security firm Certik.
LSC’s Exit Scam
Certik reports that the LSC’s deployer account drained more than 1 million tokens from the project’s NFTMerge and AdwardCenter contracts. The tokens were subsequently swapped for Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin using PancakeSwap and transferred to another account.
Certik’s SkynetAlert officially confirmed the exit scam, exposing the culprits behind the AstrAstrol75591 LSC token. The firm identified the Binance Smart Chain address and the specific accounts involved in the unauthorized token withdrawals and subsequent swaps.
The Alleged Fraud
Lucky Star Currency, presented as an NFT project founded by astrologists, offered an Award Center and an NFT Marketplace. The team had actively promoted the project on platforms like Toutiao and Zhihu. However, the project’s website and user interface went offline around the time of the alleged scam.
Using the deployer account, the attackers drained a total of 16 million LSC tokens from the AwardCenter contract and an additional 14 million LSC tokens from the NFTMerge contract. The stolen funds were then converted to more than $1 million worth of BUSD via PancakeSwap and sent to a specific account (0x23f8c805306Bf27AB8bf3cEbEce4B778acfFd896), which had been receiving BUSD from multiple sources over the past 82 days, indicating potential involvement in other scams.
Certik’s Findings
Certik noted that the attacked contracts were shared as the official LSC contracts on Telegram, further validating the fraudulent nature of the incident. The firm also revealed that the attacking account was the deployer for the AwardCenter contract.
Chinese Rug Pulls
The Web3 space has witnessed recurring rug pulls from Chinese projects, highlighting the ongoing problem. Due to the illegality of running a centralized cryptocurrency exchange in China, users who deposit funds into Chinese protocols with centralized elements risk having their assets confiscated by law enforcement. Notably, the Multichain protocol had previously defrauded users of over $100 million.
The astrology NFT project “Web3 Lucky Star Currency” became the latest victim of an exit scam, with over $1 million worth of tokens stolen and converted to BUSD. Certik’s report sheds light on the fraudulent activities and highlights the risks associated with investing in emerging projects in the Web3 space.
