Olympics ICO Scams: Scammers Exploit the Buzz around the 2024 Paris Olympics to Lure Victims

Scammers are exploiting the buzz around the 2024 Paris Olympics to lure victims into investing in initial coin offerings (ICOs). These scams tend to promise big returns on “Olympic” tokens.

Initial coin offerings (ICOs) are being used by scammers to take advantage of the excitement surrounding the 2024 Paris Olympics in an effort to entice victims to invest. These scams frequently provide substantial profits on “Olympic” tokens.

The campaigns use a variety of techniques, including creating fake websites, AI-generated images, and social media campaigns, to build excitement for these offerings and draw in investors.

Olympics Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) Fraudulent Activity

Trend Micro researchers recently found a plan that claimed to be offering the official “Olympics Games Token” for sale. The Olympic Games Token ICO website, theolympictoken[.]com, was registered on March 30, 2024, and its website went live a day later. The website also includes a link to the official 2024 Olympics logo and a countdown to the event, giving it the appearance of a legitimate project.

It provided a link to a “whitepaper,” a document that outlines the project’s technology and objectives. But that link didn't lead anywhere useful. Visitors were directed to the official Olympics website instead of receiving any information. Number one on the list of red flags.

Followers were urged to quickly buy tokens by a Twitter account and Telegram channel. A nearly identical site (olympictokensolana[.]com) appeared under a new name when the original site was taken down. At least ten additional websites were found by the researchers to be using 2024 Olympics-related branding to draw victims into ICO scams; some of these websites were taken down soon after being found.

The researchers noted that AI-generated images are being used more and more frequently in these ICO scams because they provide a cheap and quick method to produce convincing lures. Cybercriminals can use AI to create text, fix spelling and grammar mistakes, and even write sentences in tongues they don't speak.

The researchers discovered at least three additional ICO Olympics scam websites that used AI-generated imagery in their advertising.

Spotting Phony ICO Campaigns

ICOs have gotten a lot of attention as cryptocurrency is being used more and more in different fields. While the majority of new tokens don't have a use and are instead memecoins, this doesn't always imply they're scams. Investors should be on the lookout for potential scams and rug pulls. A legitimate ICO should have a functional website, a presence on social media, a team that is open about who they are, an engaged community, a whitepaper that goes into depth, claims that can be supported, tokenomics, an audit of the smart contract, and management of the liquidity.

The researchers have provided the following advice to aid in identifying such scams:

The Olympic Games Token website, for instance, displayed a few red flags, including a very low token holder count and a whitepaper link that didn't work. Investors and those interested in cryptocurrency should take the necessary precautions to avoid falling victim to these scams.

Olympics-related search engine results and social media activity are being monitored by specialists to combat scams involving fraudulent ticketing and campaigns spreading false information that have been planned.

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