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Crypto FOMO Is Back. So Are the Scams


After cryptocurrency prices spiked, scammers have flooded the market with fake tokens that promise investors great riches, but leave them penniless. It's working.

The number of meme token presales increased five-fold between February and March, when the price of bitcoin surged to record heights, data provided by crypto security company Blockaid shows. An analysis performed on behalf of WIRED by crypto auditing company Hacken identified red flags in the token’s underlying code that might in some circumstances betray a scam. In extreme cases, profit-hungry investors have taken to using “sniping bots” to automatically purchase tokens as they first begin to trade on the open market, says Budorin, in a bid to get in early.

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