- Telegram OTC SCAM has stolen $ 50 million by offering fake to Altcoin deals with a discount.
- Despite warnings, investors ignored red flags and familiar fake notes.
A refined scam operation Telegram recently came to light, where unsuspecting users were lured to buy popular altcoins at apparently reduced prices.
Coins were compromised in the OTC -Crypto -wang
Frauders were presented as freely available (OTC) dealers and offer attractive tokendeals linked to location schedules. They focused on popular projects such as Sui, near, Sei and Axelar [AXL]- Tokens with strong liquidity and active communities that granted credibility to the scam.
Victims lost more than $ 50 million after falling for these offers.
Crypto analyst Altcoin Alpha stated that promoters have pushed the scheme in private telegram groups. Prominent crypto -whales and venture capitalists seemed to endorse it, giving the scam credibility.
From November 2024 to January 2025 the operation seemed legitimate, where users posted profit and encouraged others to participate.
However, it soon collapsed and, however, turned out to be a classic Ponzi schedule, using the money from new investors to pay previous participants.
In June everything fell apart when the distributions of the token suddenly stopped. The promoters disappeared and offer vague apologies about travel or exchange problems.
What is more?
The telegram -scam was strengthened during the early stages of the Crypto Bull Run 2024, which started with what legitimate OTC Deals seemed to be.
Initially tokens such as the graph (grt), aptos [APT]Sei [SEI]And swell was offered with steep discounts, up to 50%, who attract buyers with the allure of early access and established allocations.
Data in the chain confirmed the presence of the tokens in specific portfolios, which made it possible to build up credibility.
How did it come to an end?
The scam was publicly unveiled on June 19, when Aza Ventures, an important broker who was involved in the deals, announced that it was cheated.
The company identified a person who was called ‘Source 1’ as the brain behind the global Ponzi schedule of $ 50 million.
Aza Ventures stated that they know his identity and claimed that he was an Indian national and the founder of a project currently mentioned on Binance.
However, they have chosen not to announce his name, hoping to restore the stolen funds through private negotiations.
At the same time, Blockchain analysts Altcoin Alpha and Crypto Sleith claimed that Ravindra Kumar, the founder of Self Chain, was behind the schedule.
However, Kumar has denied the accusations and promised to make a public statement.
Source: Ravindra Kumar/X
Warnings were issued, but they ignored victims
By May 2025, subtle warnings about the telegram OTC welder started to arise. Many users ignored them in the midst of steady profit.
Eman Abio of the SUI team posted on X: “There is no deal.” He insisted on users to avoid fraudulent OTC offers on Telegram.
Source: Altcoin Alpha/X
Lucian Mincu, co-founder of Multiversx (formerly Elrond), also strengthened the warning. Yet these warnings did not succeed in getting serious grip.
Investors, influenced by earlier profit and notes of trusted figures, continued to participate. The allure of steep discounts and earlier success stories drowned out the warning votes, allowing the $ 50 million scam.
Data sets increase in Cryptovoordeer
So, while crypto-related crimes continue to evolve, an urgent question remains: how long can this trend remain uncontrolled?
On January 15, 2025, chain analysis reported Those illegal crypto addresses received $ 40.9 billion in 2024, by previous years.
However, experts consider this figure to be conservative, because researchers continue to discover more illegal portfolios. This growing concern now influences market sentiment and behavior.
Impact on the price of altcoins compromised
In the aftermath of the $ 50 million telegram scam, like tokens Sky” NearAnd Axl Saw noticeable 24-hour falls of 4%, 4.8%and 1.88%, respectively, at the time of press.
Interestingly, Sei stood out with a profit of 5.08%, according to the wider downward trend Mint market cap.
Credit : ambcrypto.com
