GME NFT Scamcoins, a Retroactive on yesterday events.
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| Author       | Source       | 
| :-------------: |:-------------:|
|  [u/Lucent_Sable](https://www.reddit.com/user/Lucent_Sable/) | [Reddit](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/oa1bl7/gme_nft_scamcoins_a_retroactive_on_yesterday/) | 

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[DD 👨‍🔬](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/search?q=flair_name%3A%22DD%20%F0%9F%91%A8%E2%80%8D%F0%9F%94%AC%22&restrict_sr=1)

Hey Apes!

After yesterdays event where a user ended up purchasing a scam coin, I thought I would quickly write up a DD on how scamcoins commonly target uninformed GME investors.

This is my first attempt at writing anything that looks like a DD, and I will be focusing on a retroactive of the event and some things that you can look out for to prevent becoming a victim of these scamcoins.

If you think you are immune to being scammed, there is some interesting information on how easy it is to fool people on the internet [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ).

Please let me know if there is anywhere where I can add more context or information, and especially if I got anything wrong, or was unclear. I will be periodically updating this post with information from the comments to make it a better resource.

1\. The anatomy of a scam

Any scam has three core components.

1.  Get the targets trust

2.  Convince the target to give you their money

3.  Get away before the target realizes they have been scammed.

I will be covering these steps by giving examples from some common scams. I will then proceed to outline how I believe these steps happen in the new GME scamcoins.

-   [Three-card Monte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-card_Monte)

-   A confidence scam where shills conspire with a scammer to convince a target that they can win money in a street game.

-   [Forex Scam](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/forex/09/spot-a-forex-scam.asp)

-   A scam where a "professional trader" has some "special formula" that they can use to invest your money in foreign exchange markets.

-   [Tech support scam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_support_scam)

-   A scammer calls a target and convinces them that there is a problem with their computer, which can only be fixed with their special antivirus software. The scammer will often request remote access to the targets computer, and may even request access to the targets bank account.

-   [Romance Scam](https://www.fbi.gov/scams-and-safety/common-scams-and-crimes/romance-scams)

-   The scammer pretends to be romantically interested in the target.

1.1 Trust

The first task of any scammer is to gain the targets trust. The target needs to believe that the scammer can provide something they want.

Three-card Monte

In this scam, the target wants to win a bet against the scammer in order to increase the amount of cash they have. The scammer gains trust by having shills publicly lose to them in the three-card Monte game, building the illusion that the target has a realistic chance of winning.

Forex Scam

In this scam, the target wants to earn passive income via investing. The scammer gains trust by showing the target some of the gains their trading platform or software is capable of. This is usually done through some form of internet communication, such as email or direct-messages on social media. Fabricated screenshots may be used to increase the perceived legitimacy of the scammer.

Tech support scam

The scammer pretends to be a representative of a well known company such as Microsoft or Amazon. They rely on the target trusting the reputations of large companies whose names they recognize, and the scammer may add a sense of urgency to the scam which can further impair the targets judgement.

Romance Scam

This is one of the more vile scams. The scammer builds the targets trust by pretending to be romantically interested in the target. The goal is to make the target believe that they have a genuine relationship with the scammer, and who doesn't trust the person they are in a relationship with!

1.2 Extracting the targets money

The second step, once the target trusts the scammer is to convince the target to give the scammer money.

Three-card Monte

This one is fairly obvious. The target puts forward money in a bet on the game, not knowing that the game is rigged and they cannot win. The scammer or shill may encourage the target to keep trying, as they "Just got unlucky". At this point the scam relies on the target believing that they can still make their money back, while they lose more and more.

Forex Scam

The scammer request access to the targets trading account, or requests that the target send them some money to get started. If the target is still hesitant, the scammer may request a smaller amount, and then provides some fake return on investment to further build the targets trust. The scammer will keep demanding higher deposits while promising that the system is working, until the target catches on.

Tech support scam

The scammer requests remote access to the targets computer, often under the guise of running diagnostics. Once they have "run their diagnostics", they will try to sell some overpriced antivirus software. To extract further money from the target, the scammer may call back at a later date, and either try to get the target to pay for a renewal, or offer a "refund" which they "over-pay", and then have the target send the difference back to them. Often the scammer edits HTML on the targets bank page, or has the transaction reversed before the target sends them the difference back.

Romance scam

The scammer contacts the target, who believes they are in a long distance relationship with the scammer. The scammer will tell the target that they have run into legal trouble, and need some money sent to them to cover bail or a lawyers fee. Other iterations of the scam may request money for fuel, gifts, medical bills, car repairs, or anything else you can imagine. The requests keep coming in as long as the target believes that the relationship is genuine. During this process the scammer will encourage the target to take out loans and max out credit cards, even borrow money from friends and family.

1.3 The Getaway

The final part of the scam is getting away without the target knowing they have been scammed, or not being able to do anything about it.

Three-card Monte

The target eventually realizes that they are not going to win, or runs out of cash. The scammer and shill may pack up the game in a hurry and run if the target is angry or indicates they may make trouble, otherwise they will just convince the target that they got unlucky. This scam is often targeted toward tourists, as this prevents targets coming to personally recognize the scammers.

Forex and tech support

The scammer will stop responding to the target, and will launder the money any number of ways. The target never actually knew the real identity of the scammer, and was most likely paying money into a stolen or foreign (or both) bank account.

Romance Scam

If the scammer is called out on their scam, they will often start gaslighting their target. Often, due to the nature of the relationship in the scam, the target will not believe that they are being scammed, even when provided with otherwise irrefutable evidence. If they do eventually catch on, the scammer often has the same anonymity as in the Forex and Tech support scams. The target doesn't know the scammers real identity and has little to no recourse to get their money back.

2\. The GME NFT Scam

At this point you are probably thinking: That's interesting Lucent_Sable, but what does it have to do with GME?

2.1 History of GME NFT

Apes recently discovered that Gamestop is working on something to do with Etherium NFT tokens. This was found through an official Gamestop website: [nft.gamestop.com](https://nft.gamestop.com/). This is our root of trust, we know that this is officially Gamestop, as it is on the Gamestop.com domain.

On this website, there is an Etherium address: 0x13374200c29C757FDCc72F15Da98fb94f286d71e.

Apes looked into this address on [etherscan](https://etherscan.io/address/0x13374200c29C757FDCc72F15Da98fb94f286d71e), and found the contract for a GME coin. We know that we can trust this contract at this specific address, because it is on the official Gamestop web-site.

A screenshot of the etherscan page is available [here](https://i.imgur.com/u2Pvega.png).

In the screenshot, the areas outlined in Green are things that we can trust as directly describing the contract and the creator of the contract. Areas outlined in Red are things that anyone can influence by interacting with the contract, we cannot trust the information in these as they are influenced by public activity. The area in black is an information block, related to what is selected.

From the information on this page that we can trust, we can determine the following

1.  The contract was created by another contract: 0xce0042B868300000d44A59004Da54A005ffdcf9f

2.  The contract describes a token called Gamestop (GME)

3.  The code of the contract, which has been analysed by apes for important information

These are the facts about the contract that we know we can trust. [u/teacoat___](https://www.reddit.com/u/teacoat___/) consolidated this information in their [DD here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/nl0lk1/gme_token_info/).

Now that we have established what we know, on to the scam...

2.2 The scam

Yesterday, [u/samyall](https://www.reddit.com/u/samyall/) noticed a transaction involving the GME contract, in [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/o9967o/gme_just_transferred_42069_gmetoken_to_itself_on/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share).

Let me be very clear: I am not accusing samyall of anything, and believe that they were deceived by the scammers.

Image for following discussion [here](https://i.imgur.com/cZHRbfI.png).

2.2.1 Building trust

The information provided in samyalls post shows information on the "Erc20 Token Txns" tab. If a user is unfamiliar with what this is, they may incorrectly assume that the information in this tab is from Gamestop, as it is on the page for the official gamestop token. We know that this is not true and that anyone can send tokens to the contract address without Gamestop approving the transaction.

Second, we can look at the address that sent this scamcoin to the official Gamestop contract. The address of this scammer is\
0x133742073133c9aecdEC3a87e475C2945f23D6C0\
which at first glance is very similar to the contract address\
0x13374200c29C757FDCc72F15Da98fb94f286d71e\
I believe that this address was specifically crafted to further build trust. The most recognisable first digits of the contract address and the scammers address (0x1337420) match, and many users would not look much further than that.

Third, we look at the name of the token that the scammer sent to Gamestop. This scamcoin is called "GameStop (GME)", which is very similar to the official token name "Gamestop (GME)".

Finally, we can look at the etherscan profile of the scammer address (image [here](https://i.imgur.com/yiRkV5U.png)) This shows that the scammer created 69,420,000 tokens. This is both similar to the number of outstanding shares ~70 Million, and a funny internet number (69 & 420 are in it). This further builds legitimacy as it is similar to what we would expect to see, and plays to our biases.

2.2.2 Extracting money

The scammer had convinced at least one member of our community ([u/shroommyBoom](https://www.reddit.com/u/shroommyBoom/)) was convinced by this scam coin, and lost about $30, in this [post](https://old.reddit.com/r/Superstonk/comments/o99ms3/stay_calm_but_i_think_the_nft_is_now_available_to/). As you can see, the extraction of money from this scam is very easy, as all you have to do is convince the target that they want to purchase your scamcoin.

2.2.3 The Getaway

In this instance, the getaway is simple, as crypto provides both anonymity and irreversibility, so the scammer can simply disappear without anyone ever having known their identity.

3\. Key Takeaways (TLDR)

Be careful when interprating information about the Gamestop NFT, make sure that you can verify that you trust the source of the information. Just because the information is on the official contracts Etherscan page, doesn't mean the information is endorced by Gamestop.

At least one member of the community has been scammed by this scammer, and lost a small amount of money.

Scammers will try many tricks to get you to trust them, and separate you from your money. Don't fall for it, and if in doubt use the four-hour rule. Post on superstonk and give about 4 hours for other members of the community to analyze and sniff out anything suspicious. Remeber, nothing is urgent around here.
