Scammers Launch Fake $SBF Memecoin Impersonating Sam Bankman-Fried

Scammers have taken advantage of the rising popularity of celebrity-backed cryptocurrencies by introducing a fraudulent memecoin called “SBF.” The token falsely claims to be associated with Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the fallen crypto exchange FTX.

JUST IN: A FAKE SBF ACCOUNT, FALSELY DISPLAYING A GOVERNMENT BADGE, LAUNCHED A TOKEN ($SBF) AND RUGGED IT AS IT HIT 10M MARKET CAP WITHIN 10 MINUTES. pic.twitter.com/aZuHrfYvkb

— Mario Nawfal’s Roundtable (@RoundtableSpace) February 25, 2025

Within 10 minutes of launch, the token’s market capitalization surged to $10 million before being rugged, leaving buyers with worthless holdings.

Fake SBF Token Promoted via Hacked Account

The launch of the “SBF” memecoin was announced on February 25 through a compromised X account, “SBF_DOGE.” The account falsely claimed that Bankman-Fried had been pardoned by former U.S. President Donald Trump and had joined the Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.) team.

However, users quickly raised concerns about the account’s authenticity. A key red flag was its gray verification checkmark, typically reserved for government and multilateral organizations.

Crypto influencer Tiffany Fong called attention to the scam, describing it as identity theft and misinformation.

“Sooo it appears some fucking scammer hacked the verified government account of some town in Italy to launch an SBF memecoin,” she posted on X.

Bankman-Fried Resurfaces on Social Media

Coinciding with the scam, Bankman-Fried’s official X account became active for the first time in two years. On Tuesday morning, he shared a post that seemed to express his thoughts on the Trump administration’s recent government layoffs.

“I have a lot of sympathy for gov’t employees: I, too, have not checked my email for the past few (hundred) days. And I can confirm that being unemployed is a lot less relaxing than it looks. Firing people is one of the hardest things to do in the world,” he wrote.

His remarks on government efficiency drew online criticism, with many suggesting he was attempting to win favor with the opposition party. The speculation follows his recent praise for the Republican government and Trump.

Following his return to social media, FTX’s native token, FTT, saw a price surge of over 29%, jumping from $1.60 to $2.07, according to CoinGecko. However, the price has since declined to $1.70.