Update Feb. 17, 11:09 a.m. UTC: This article has been updated to include quotes from Anndy Lian.
Scammers impersonating Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched a fraudulent cryptocurrency, capitalizing on the retail frenzy around celebrity-backed memecoins.
Scammers impersonating the crown prince, who is also the prime minister of Saudi Arabia, launched the token to attract capital from unsuspecting investors.
The “Official” Saudi Arabia memecoin (KSA) was announced on Feb. 17, according to an X post by the account “SaudiLawConf,” a fake account impersonating the crown prince.
Source: SaudiLawConf
The first red flag from the token was the absence of any official government communication and a lack of details on the project’s tokenomics or underlying utility.
Shortly after the scam coin was launched, the original owners of the X account, the Saudi Law Conference, confirmed that their X account was hacked by impersonators, according to a Feb. 17 LinkedIn post, which stated:
“The conference management announces that the official conference account in the X platform (@Saudilawconf) has been hacked and that any content currently published through the account does not represent our opinions or official orientations in any way.”
Source: Saudi Law Conference
The scam token’s launch came days after the rapid rise and fall of Argentine President Javier Milei-endorsed Libra (LIBRA) token, which lost over 94% of its value within hours after insider wallets cashed out $107 million worth of liquidity from the token, Contelegraph reported on Feb. 15.
To stay safe amid the current wave of memecoin scams, investors need to conduct more “due diligence” about a project’s backing and its tokenomics, according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert. He told Cointelegraph:
“Don’t just throw your cash at something because it’s got a catchy name or claims to be ‘official.’ Check who’s behind the project. If the team is all mysterious or you can’t dig up any real info on them, that’s a red flag waving right in your face.”
“Transparency is key; if they won’t show their faces, they might just be looking to run with your money,” he added.
Related: Analysts predict delayed altcoin season amid lack of retail traders
Memecoins backed by political figures lead to multi-million investor losses
Another significant red flag for investors was that the token contract for the fake Saudi Arabia memecoin was launched onchain on Feb. 10, a week ahead of the announcement, on Solana-based memecoin launchpad Pump.fun.
However, the token failed to attract investor capital, amassing only $7,489 worth of market capitalization since it launched, Pump.fun data shows.
KSA/USD, all-time chart. Source: Pump.fun
Related: Milei-endorsed Libra token was “open secret” in memecoin circles — Jupiter
Retail investor appetite for celebrity-endorsed memecoins has been boosted since US President Donald Trump launched his Official Trump (TRUMP) memecoin on Jan. 18, followed by First Lady Melania Trump’s Melania Meme (MELANIA) token on Jan. 19.
However, these tokens have underperformed the wider cryptocurrency market so far.
TRUMP, MELANIA, all-time chart. Source: TradingView
The Trump token is currently down over 76% from its all-time high, while the Melania coin is down over 90%, TradingView data shows.
The Javier Milei-endorsed Libra coin is also down over 92% from its peak price of $4.56 recorded on Feb. 15, shortly before insider wallets caused a $4 billion meltdown for the coin, Dexscreener data shows.
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