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Astrology NFT initiative ‘Lucky Star Currency’ suffers a loss exceeding $1 million, according to Certik.
The astrology-focused NFT initiative Lucky Star Currency (LSC) has reportedly executed an exit scam, resulting in losses exceeding $1 million, as detailed in an October 9 report from blockchain security firm Certik.
The deployer account of the project invoked the ‘withdrawToken’ function on both the NFTMerge and AdwardCenter contracts, extracting more than $1 million in LSC tokens. These tokens were subsequently exchanged for Binance USD (BUSD) stablecoin and transferred to a different account.
#CertiKSkynetAlert
We can confirm an exit scam on @AstrAstrol75591 LSC token
Bsc: 0x2b3559c3DBdB294cbb71f2B30a693F4C6be6132d
EOA 0x9Ef withdrew LSC tokens from the AwardCenter contract. Tokens were then sold for $1.1m https://t.co/sy7vFfqhf5— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) October 9, 2023
Lucky Star Currency is an NFT project that claims to be established by astrologists. Its contracts encompass an Award Center and NFT Marketplace, targeting the Chinese crypto investment sector. The team promotes the initiative on X (formerly Twitter) under the handle @AstrAstrol75591 and maintains a Telegram channel. As of October 9, the project’s website and user interface are no longer accessible.
Prior to the alleged exit scam, Lucky Star Currency received significant promotion on the Chinese news application Toutiao and the Q&A platform Zhihu.
At around 02:52 a.m. UTC, the BNB Smart Chain address 0x9Ef72Ee68a7c841986A0C60e0FDbAE4e27446Deb withdrew over 1.6 million LSC from the AwardCenter contract associated with Lucky Star Currency. In a subsequent transaction, an additional 1.4 million LSC was extracted from the project’s NFTMerge contract. Following the withdrawal of funds, the attacker converted them into over $1 million in BUSD through PancakeSwap and subsequently transferred them to account 0x23f8c805306Bf27AB8bf3cEbEce4B778acfFd896. This account has been accumulating BUSD from various sources for the last 82 days, suggesting the possibility of multiple scams depositing funds into it.
Certik has indicated that the drained contracts have been identified on Telegram as the official contracts of the project.
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Admin Telegram post stating the official addresses for LSC contracts ‘NFTMerge’ and ‘AwardCenter.’ Source: Certik.
Furthermore, blockchain data reveals that the attacking account is the deployer of the AwardCenter contract.
Related: Chinese DeFi protocol WDZD Swap exploited for $1.1M: CertiK
The entity that promoted the project claimed to have an office located in Shenzhen City, China.
Lucky Star Currency office, Shenzhen, China. Source: Certik, Telegram
Rug-pulls from Chinese projects have emerged as a persistent issue within the Web3 landscape. Operating a centralized cryptocurrency exchange is prohibited in the country. Consequently, users who deposit into a Chinese protocol with centralized features may face the risk of having their funds seized by law enforcement.
In July, over $100 million was lost when the China-based Multichain protocol drained all user funds into an attacker’s account. The team claims that police have apprehended their CEO, yet victims continue to seek clarity regarding the fate of their funds and potential reimbursement.
