Scammers Get Away With $2 Million From WallStreetBets Forum Members

Scam alert: members of the WallStreetBets (WSB) forum were scammed into a cryptocurrency deal that may have left some of the Reddit forum enthusiasts some $2 million out of pocket, Bloomberg reports.

The forum members who ended up being scammed were enticed to get involved and cash in on a new cryptocurrency token called WSB Finance. The draw was that the cryptocurrency was being offered before its official launch — something that's called a pre-mine sale.

What happened during the scam

As Bloomberg reported, members were asked by an account called "WallStreetBets - Crypto Pumps" to send over Binance Coin or Ether to its crypto wallet, and then to get in touch with its "token bot" via Telegram to receive the WSB Finance coins in exchange. 

Unfortunately, those coins were never sent to the members, who instead received a second message from "Crypto Pumps" saying that the payments hadn't come through due to an issue with the bot, so they had to send the same amount again otherwise they'd lose their first investment entirely. Ultimately, the scammers disappeared altogether, and with them, the money.

This was a scam that moderators of the forum anticipated, as they've had a post tethered to the top of its page for a few weeks now, which warns its members of possible fraudulent activity via Telegram and cryptocurrency.

It's not looking like all of WSB's members saw the memo, though, as a number were scammed into the fraudulent offer. In the end, the unknown scammers gathered 3,451 Binance coins, which is the equivalent of around $2 million. 

According to a member on the Reddit forum, a Telegram group chat has been set up as a support group for people who unfortunately fell into the trap. A little support goes a long way, but losing that kind of money is painful regardless. 

Such scams take place more often than we'd like to know. From pink WhatsApp scams to the outrageous 5G repellent cream fraud, there's a bit of everything out there that people should watch out for.

And as cryptocurrencies gain more and more traction, and popularity around the world, it's clear to see why scammers are constantly targeting these groups. For example, just in April a crypto exchange platform completely disappeared overnight with some 400,000 users left unable to access their accounts or withdraw money.