### Gaming Project FinSoul Allegedly Pulls off Exit Scam, Stealing $1.6 Million from Investors
According to a recent report from blockchain security platform CertiK, the development team behind gaming project FinSoul has been accused of carrying out an exit scam and siphoning away $1.6 million from investors through market manipulation. The team allegedly hired paid actors to pose as executives and raised funds for the development of a gaming platform. Instead of creating the platform, they transferred the funds to themselves. They then laundered the money through a cryptocurrency mixer called Tornado Cash. This is not the first allegation of misconduct against FinSoul’s developers.
#### Previous Allegations Against FinSoul Developers
In May, decentralized finance (DeFi) project Fintoch claimed that it had adopted advanced technology to develop the FinSoul U.S.-based metaverse platform. However, on-chain sleuth ZachXBT reported that Fintoch had performed an exit scam and stolen $31.6 million. In August, the team rebranded itself as “Standard Cross Finance (SCF).” CertiK claims that the key executives of both Fintoch and SCF are identical and are actually paid actors from the entertainment industry.
#### Marketing Efforts and Token Deployment
The rebranded team continued to promote FinSoul on YouTube and Telegram, even producing videos depicting an alleged R&D headquarters and a promotional event in Vietnam. On October 10, FinSoul deployed its token contract to the BNB Smart Chain network. The deployer account minted 100 million FinSoul (FSL) tokens and sent 3 million to other accounts through multiple transactions, leaving 97 million in its possession.
#### Price Manipulation and Exit Scam
The price of FSL initially rose from $0.3911 to $17.5774 per token before stabilizing at around $5. However, between 4:30 pm and 5:00 pm UTC on October 10, the price suddenly collapsed to near zero. At 4:25 pm, the FSL deployer account transferred the remaining 97 million tokens to another address. At 4:35 pm, this account sold all 97 million tokens into the liquidity pool, moving $1.6 million worth of USDT from the pool into its own account. The funds were then laundered through Tornado Cash.
#### Investors Beware
Despite draining funds from investors twice before, the Standard Cross Finance team has managed to convince investors to invest in its project once again. They have relaunched FSL with a new token contract valued at $1.29 per coin. This serves as a reminder that crypto investors should thoroughly investigate new projects before investing in them. Rug pulls and exit scams continue to be a problem in decentralized finance, with victims often losing large amounts of money that are rarely recovered.
#### Hot Take: The Importance of Due Diligence
The case of FinSoul highlights the need for crypto investors to exercise due diligence before investing in new projects. It is concerning that a scam team was able to deceive investors not just once, but twice, and is now attempting a third fraud. This underscores the importance of thoroughly researching projects and ensuring they have a functioning blockchain platform before committing funds. Rug pulls and exit scams remain prevalent in the DeFi space, causing significant losses to unsuspecting investors.
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