Quick take:
- Rug Pull Finder investigates NFT projects and exposes scammers.
- They discovered that OmicronBlockchainSolutions deployed the majority of large scam projects.
- More than 15 NFT projects have been confirmed as rug pulls.
NFT project investigator, Rug Pull Finder, has been tracking and investigating a group of NFT projects over the past three months. In a Twitter thread, Rug Pull Finder said that the projects were brought to their attention after collectively making off with over 40,000 ETH from their communities.
The first part of Rug Pull Finder’s investigation is an extension of the work done by The Rug Busters, a collective of individuals who are also exposing scammers. Fisto, a member of the collective, published on Mar 20 a comprehensive article identifying Vasco Rouw of Netherlands-based self-improvement members club, The Millionaires Club as the main culprit behind multiple rug pulls.
Fisto wrote that Rouw launched a scam token called XPOSE before moving on to anonymously infiltrate the NFT space, using pseudonyms and NFT profile pics. Rouw’s girlfriend Tamara Weeda and Dutch rapper Boef are part of Rouw’s team of more than 10 people who are draining the majority of liquidity from projects before repeating the same strategies across multiple others.
According to Fisto, the list of NFT projects that Rouw is most likely involved in includes The Zombie Graveyard, Monkey Society, Fat Ape Club, Island Ape Paradise Club, Strong Ape Club, Retirement Club, Rich Ape Yacht Club, Naughty Bape Club, Tropical Ape Club, Cyclops Monkey Club, Crazy Babies, Cheeky Lion Club, Crypto Bull Society, Shiba Social Club, Prime Ape Planet, Prime Kong Planet, and Meta Moose.
After the article was published, Rug Pull Finder said that over 10 of these projects reached out to claim that they are not connected to each other. However, after using BlockSearch to track the movement of crypto, Rug Pull Finder discovered that these projects are linked to each other by VCs, developers and even “founders”.
Rull Pull Finder also found that software development agency Omicron Blockchain Solutions deployed a majority of these projects and has bragged about being the software development team behind the projects before removing the information from their site.
Apart from Fisto’s list of scam projects, Rug Pull Finder has also tracked the movement of funds between other related projects.
13/This is the top portion of the graph mention in the last message showing connections between @Strong_Ape_Club , @naughtybapeclub, @KittyCryptoGang, @galyverse, @Crypto_Bull_NFT, and @KongPlanet pic.twitter.com/pugTpb4aCQ
— Rug Pull Finder (@rugpullfinder) April 11, 2022
Other projects that have been confirmed as rug pulls include Galyverse, Kitty Crypto Gang, Trillionaire Thugs, Bored Billionaires, Digital Ape Club, The SpaceBulls, Supreme Kong, BeHype, and Grumpy Pandaz. Rug Pull Finder initially included Crypto Bull, Meta Penguins, and X-Moose on the list, but later stated that these projects are under new management as their communities have stepped up to push the projects forward.
Even though NFT project investigators such as Rug Pull Finder and The Rug Busters are doing great work alongside a community to bring rug pulls to light, there’s still a long way to go before scams can be completely eliminated if it’s even possible.
While you’re contemplating investing in a project, it’s best to do your research on the team behind the project and the risks of investing in an anonymous team before trusting them with your crypto.
But that’s not to say that all projects with anonymous teams are rug pulls. The founders of blue-chip project Bored Ape Yacht Club used pseudonyms and hid behind their Bored Ape profile picture for years before being doxxed by Buzzfeed. They have since revealed their true identities.
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