Scammers target Toncoin holders amid rising TON interest

Cybersecurity firm Kaspersky has reported an increase in fraud surrounding Toncoin.

According to security experts, Telegram’s support for The Open Network (TON) blockchain and the Toncoin (TON) token has led to scammers targeting unsuspecting token holders.

Since November 2023, scams against Toncoin holders have increased as interest and TON investments have ramped up. The attackers promote a complex referral scheme to steal TON tokens from users.

Potential victims are invited to join a Telegram bot supposedly designed to store cryptocurrency and link a web3 wallet to the bot’s system. Victims are then forced to buy “boosters” using a bot. Scammers claim that users must complete this action to start earning money. However, purchasing a booster makes the user irrevocably lose control over his cryptocurrency.

The scammers promise earnings from two sources: a flat payment of 25 TON for each friend the user refers to and a commission based on the booster rate purchased by referrals. Kaspersky estimates that users lose between $2 and $2,700 to scams.

Meanwhile, Toncoin’s price has fallen by more than 5% over the past 24 hours to $5.72, according to CoinMarketCap data. By month, TON’s prices have risen 10%, largely thanks to several initiatives involving the Telegram messenger.

Recently, Telegram founder Pavel Durov announced the imminent addition of new features to the application, including the ability for sticker creators to receive income from sales and a new function for donations in the TON.