Leaper Finance Accused of Money Laundering in Crypto Scam Incident
A notorious group of crypto scammers, known for their involvement in previous fraudulent projects like Magnate, Kokomo, Lendora, and Solfire, has devised a new scheme specifically targeting users of the Blast network. The scam was announced via the @Leaperfinance Twitter account.
The scammers’ latest tactic involves transferring approximately $1 million of laundered money from their previous scams into an address on Blast. From there, they initiate liquidity additions to trap unsuspecting victims.
Investigator Zach XBT, in collaboration with @bax1337, has conducted research shedding light on the activities of this criminal gang. It has been discovered that they execute rug pulls, which result in the loss of significant Total Value Locked (TVL). To create a false sense of legitimacy, they engage in elaborate forgery of KYC documents and employ low-tier audit firms.
Unfortunately, many investors have fallen victim to this deceptive approach, unaware that they would suffer substantial losses.
In addition to Leaper Finance, the scammers have recently launched similar schemes on other prominent networks such as Base, Solana, Scroll, Optimism, Arbitrum, Ethereum, and Avalanche. One project called ZebraLending, currently live on Base with a TVL of $311K, may also be linked to this group of scammers.
Further suspicion arises as social media platforms associated with these fraudulent firms go offline. Users who have deposited funds in Leaper Finance, Glori Finance on Arbitrum (with an overall TVL of $1.4 million), or any other project connected to the scammers are strongly advised to cash out and withdraw their assets.
The sudden cessation of activities on Leaper Finance and Glori Finance X accounts serves as a clear indication of the potential danger posed by these fraudulent entities, and they should be avoided. The fact that their websites are now offline further confirms their illegitimacy.
All three projects mentioned are reportedly forks of Compound Version 2, suggesting an ongoing pattern of replication and exploitation within the DeFi ecosystem. Notably, Glori Finance involves liquidity from other scams like Crolend, HashDAO, and HellHoundFi.
The DeFi and wider crypto community remain vigilant in the face of such fraudulent activities. Users are urged to exercise extreme caution and conduct thorough research before participating in any DeFi project.
By maintaining constant awareness and suspicion toward projects that exhibit warning signs or fail to provide a satisfactory breakdown of their scheme, individuals can better protect themselves from falling into fraudulent schemes that pose a real threat to the integrity of the vulnerable decentralized finance space.