On August 21, McDonald's Instagram account was hacked, leading to a significant scam involving a Solana-based meme coin.
Incident Overview
The perpetrators exploited McDonald's social media account to promote a fraudulent token named 'Grimace,' referencing one of McDonald's fictional characters. According to Bubblemaps, the hacker acquired 75% of the Grimace token's total supply using the Solana meme coin deployer pump.fun, then distributed the accumulated supply across approximately 100 different wallets. The scheme reportedly siphoned over $700,000 in Solana.
Consequences and Response
Screenshots from X revealed changes to McDonald's Instagram page endorsing the token as a 'McDonald's experiment on Solana,' including a message thanking followers for their contributions, hinting at the scam's execution. In a statement, McDonald's said they were aware of an 'isolated incident' affecting their social media accounts. 'We have resolved the issue on those accounts and apologize to our fans for any offensive language posted during that time.'
Pump.fun Platform Overview
For the Solana ecosystem, pump.fun has emerged as a prominent site for meme coin creation. Introduced on January 14, 2024, pump.fun saw its popularity surge in March, coinciding with the peak of the meme coin season. K33’s report reveals that the platform is approaching $100 million in total revenue. Since the start of the year, users on pump.fun have launched 1,829,747 meme coins, reflecting the perceived lack of seriousness in the Solana DeFi space.
This incident serves as a reminder for investors to be cautious with newly launched meme coins, as many of these highly volatile assets are susceptible to scams.
Comments