Hackers Impersonate Saudi Crown Prince to Promote Fake Memecoins

Highlights:

• Hackers impersonated the Saudi Crown Prince to promote fraudulent meme coins on the X platform.
• Saudi Law Conference confirms account hack and urges followers to avoid suspicious content.
• Retail investor interest in celebrity memecoins drops amid scams and unclear tokenomics.

On February 17, hackers gained control of the Saudi Law Conference’s social media account on X, where they impersonated Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. Using his name and image, they promoted fraudulent cryptocurrencies in a series of now-deleted posts.

The hacked account announced the launch of the official Saudi Arabia meme coin ($KSA) and FALCON ($FLCN), along with contract addresses for the tokens. The first warning sign of the token was the lack of official government communication and missing details about its tokenomics and purpose. Soon after the scam coin’s launch, the original owners of the X account, Saudi Law Conference, confirmed impersonators had hacked their account. It further clarified that any content posted through the account did not reflect their views or official stance in any way.

The LinkedIn post is translated as,

“We also apologize to our followers for any inconvenience this may cause and urge everyone to exercise caution and refrain from engaging with any suspicious content posted through the account until further notice.”

Growing Trend of Hacks and Fake Memecoins

The Saudi crypto scam emerged after the controversial launch of the Libra token, which initially soared by 3000% to reach an all-time high of $4.5. The surge was driven by a promotion from Argentinian President Javier Milei. However, the token rapidly collapsed after the team withdrew $107 million in LIBRA. 

A major red flag for investors was the early launch of the fake Saudi Arabia memecoin token on Feb. 10, a week before the announcement. It was launched on the Solana-based memecoin platform, Pump.fun. Despite this, the token attracted little investor interest, with a market capitalization of only $7,489, according to Pump.fun data.

Hacking X accounts to promote fake meme coins isn’t a new issue. This recent incident adds to the rising trend of hacks and rug pulls in recent weeks. Just last week, World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff’s account was compromised to promote a fake Barron Trump meme coin. Earlier, attackers hijacked the accounts of former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and Brazil’s former President Jair Bolsonaro, using them to push fraudulent meme coins.

Celebrity Memecoins Struggle Amid Scam Allegations

Retail investor interest in celebrity-endorsed memecoins grew after US President Donald Trump launched his Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin on Jan. 18, followed by First Lady Melania Trump’s Melania Meme (MELANIA) token on Jan. 19. However, both tokens have underperformed compared to the broader cryptocurrency market.

In addition, the CAR meme coin, endorsed by Central African Republic President Archange Touadéra, faced crypto scam allegations. After a strong start, the token’s value dropped by over 70%. The community became suspicious of a rug pull due to unclear tokenomics and lack of transparency.