美國對三名涉嫌 2021 年「進化猿」NFT 地毯拉騙局的個人提出指控

Evolved Apes 是 10,000 個獨特的 NFT 的集合，它向買家承諾了一款視頻遊戲，但從未實現。

Three Individuals Charged in 2021 ‘Evolved Apes’ NFT Rug Pull Scam

三人因 2021 年「進化猿」NFT 地毯拉騙局被指控

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York has charged three individuals in connection with the 2021 “Evolved Apes” NFT rug pull scam.

美國紐約南區檢察官辦公室對三名個人提出指控，指控他們涉嫌 2021 年「進化猿」NFT 地毯拉騙局。

Mohamed-Amin Atcha, Mohamed Rilaz Waleedh, and Daood Hassan were each charged with one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. The charges stem from a scheme to defraud purchasers of Evolved Apes NFTs by promising a video game that was never created.

Mohamed-Amin Atcha、Mohamed Rilaz Waleedh 和 Daood Hassan 分別被指控一項電匯詐欺罪和一項洗錢罪。這些指控源於一項透過承諾從未創建的視頻遊戲來欺騙 Evolved Apes NFT 購買者的計劃。

According to the indictment, Atcha, Waleedh, and Hassan created the Evolved Apes NFT collection in May 2021. The NFTs were sold out in 10 minutes, generating 798 Ethereum (ETH), which was valued at approximately $2.7 million at the time.

起訴書顯示，Atcha、Waleedh 和 Hassan 於 2021 年 5 月創建了 Evolved Apes NFT 系列。 這些 NFT 在 10 分鐘內就被售空，產生了 798 個以太坊（ETH），當時價值約 270 萬美元。

However, a week after the launch, the anonymous developer known as “Evil Ape” disappeared with the funds. The indictment alleges that Atcha, Waleedh, and Hassan were involved in the rug pull scam and that they used the stolen ETH to purchase real estate and other assets.

然而，上線一週後，這位被稱為「Evil Ape」的匿名開發商帶著資金消失了。起訴書稱，Atcha、Waleedh 和 Hassan 參與了拉地毯騙局，並使用被盜的 ETH 購買房地產和其他資產。

“The defendants ran a scam to drive up the price of digital artwork through false promises about developing a videogame,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “They allegedly took investor funds, never developed the game, and pocketed the proceeds. Digital art may be new, but old rules still apply: making false promises for money is illegal.”

美國檢察官達米安威廉斯 (Damian Williams) 表示：“被告實施了詐騙，透過關於開發視頻遊戲的虛假承諾來抬高數位藝術品的價格。” 「據稱他們拿走了投資者的資金，從未開發過遊戲，並將收益收入囊中。數位藝術可能是新事物，但舊規則仍然適用：為了金錢做出虛假承諾是違法的。

If convicted, Atcha, Waleedh, and Hassan each face a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.

如果罪名成立，Atcha、Waleedh 和 Hassan 每人將面臨最高 40 年監禁。

Rug Pull Scams in Crypto

加密貨幣中的拉扯騙局

In the crypto world, this type of scam is known as a “rug pull.” Developers raise funds, in most cases through token or NFT sales. After accumulating enough assets, they abruptly shut down the project and vanish with the money.

在加密世界中，這種類型的騙局被稱為「拉扯」。大多數情況下，開發商透過代幣或 NFT 銷售籌集資金。在累積了足夠的資產後，他們突然關閉了項目，並帶著錢消失了。

This is in contrast to a “pump and dump” scheme, where a group of bad actors artificially inflate the price of an asset through coordinated buying and shilling, and then sell their holdings at a higher price, leaving late buyers with the "bag" of overvalued assets.

這與「拉高拋售」計畫形成鮮明對比，在「拉高拋售」計畫中，一群不良行為者透過協調購買和先令，人為地抬高資產價格，然後以更高的價格出售其持有的資產，讓後來的買家得到「袋子」。

According to DeFi’s Rekt database, over $79.7 billion has been lost to crypto bad actors since 2011. The largest rugpull listed is South African digital assets investment fund Africrypt, which disappeared with 69,000 Bitcoin (BTC), which was worth nearly $4.8 billion at the time in 2021.

根據DeFi 的Rekt 資料庫，自2011 年以來，加密貨幣不良行為者已經損失了超過797 億美元。價值近48 億美元2021年。

The report follows a cryptocurrency trader recently losing $69 million in a sophisticated “address poisoning” scam. In this kind of scam, bad actors create fake accounts that are nearly identical to the victim’s online crypto address and send small amounts, hoping the victim accidentally sends money to the fake address later.

在報告發布之前，一名加密貨幣交易員最近在一場複雜的「地址中毒」騙局中損失了 6,900 萬美元。在這種騙局中，不良行為者創建與受害者的線上加密地址幾乎相同的虛假帳戶並發送少量資金，希望受害者稍後不小心將錢發送到該虛假地址。

Cryptocurrency-related scams, including “pig butchering” scams, are becoming increasingly prevalent and costly for investors. At the end of last year, United States authorities were able to recover about $500,000 worth of assets lost to pig butchering scams.

與加密貨幣相關的騙局，包括「殺豬」騙局，對於投資者來說變得越來越普遍且成本高昂。去年底，美國當局追回因生豬屠宰騙局損失的價值約 50 萬美元的資產。

In mid-March, Massachusetts prosecutors also took some steps to return $2.3 million worth of digital assets seized from fraudsters to pig-butchering scam victims.

3 月中旬，馬薩諸塞州檢察官還採取了一些措施，將從詐欺者手中扣押的價值 230 萬美元的數位資產返還給屠宰生豬詐騙受害者。