Welcome, this is The Crypto Explorer, your crypto tour guide.

Heads up, ​​crypto community! Scammers are now impersonating Coinbase employees to steal cryptocurrency.

Here’s what we got for you today:

• 👺 Beware of crypto scams from fake Coinbase employees!

• 🤯 Messi's Instagram post sets off Solana memecoin in the market!

• 🧱 Around The Block: Former Crypto.com compliance officer charged with money laundering and extortion.

 👺 Beware of Crypto Scams from Fake Coinbase Employees!

Can you imagine losing $1.7 million to scammers?

It's a nightmare that unfortunately came true for a friend of Tegan Kline, the co-founder of Edge & Node, as he shared on X.

The scam started with a phone call from someone claiming to be from Coinbase, followed by a convincing email from what appeared to be Coinbase’s security team.

And to make it more legitimate, they even mentioned the victim's previous transactions.

Now, here’s where the real trouble began:

The victim was told that their wallet was “connecting directly with the blockchain,” resulting in unauthorized transactions, and immediately sent an email of an ongoing transaction.

And then, directed the victim to a fake website to address the issue.

Even though the victim suspected the website was unsafe, he still entered a part of their key phrase without submitting it.

But alas, that was all the scammers needed to crack the rest and steal the $1.7 million!

And guess what? Similar attacks have targeted others, only that they were not as unfortunate.

Hiro Systems CEO Alex Miller shared on X that he also received a call from Coinbase security that someone was trying to access his account.

Another X user, “TraderPaul04,” also managed to fend off a similar attack.

For now, it seems that “Coinbase would never call to help you with anything” is a good rule to live by.⚖️

Oh, and if you think it's just Coinbase, then you’re wrong — scammers have been impersonating other crypto exchanges, government agencies, and even celebrities.

Read the full story here!

🤯 Messi's Instagram Post Sets off Solana Memecoin in the Market!

Lionel Messi’s Instagram, with its massive 504 million followers, posted a story promoting the Solana memecoin, WATER!

Pretty unexpected, right? Well, our heads were spinning too.

The post featured Messi with the WATER logo peeking over his shoulder, and just that post caused WATER to soar by over 55%!

It eventually dropped back a bit, but it got us thinking:

How come the memecoin's Twitter page, with around 185,000 followers, had zero posts as of Monday?

And if Lionel Messi endorses a company, shouldn't they flaunt it everywhere? It seems a bit fishy, don't you think?

But then, this kind of stuff isn't new:

Celebrities and influential people often get their social media accounts hacked and use them to promote all sorts of things, including crypto or, worse, crypto scams.

In fact, a similar situation happened with Hulk Hogan and another memecoin that ended up losing millions after Hogan denied involvement.

So, if maybe we wake up to a denial post from Messi tomorrow, what would this mean for the memecoin?

Well, we only hope whatever happens doesn't hit too badly.🤞

But then, no one needs to panic since Messi or his team has not confirmed the news yet.

Still, it won't hurt to get more info, right? Just click here!

🧱 Around The Block:

• Former Crypto.com compliance officer charged with money laundering and extortion.

• ​​GTA 6 is rumored to include cryptocurrency feature.

• 21Shares files updated S-1 application for its spot Ethereum ETF.

• Ethereum scam backfires: Infamous pink drainer loses $30,000 in address poisoning attack.

• Solana dominates altcoin inflows as investors buy last week's dip.

• Metaplanet buys another ¥400 million worth of Bitcoin.

• Wall Street expert predicts major Bitcoin ‘Buy Signal’ – Is a Surge Imminent?

That's all we've got for you today.

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In any case, see you tomorrow, or on Twitter, if you're there: @danielakpobare

DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell assets or make financial decisions. Please be NEW”