Blockchain investigator ZachXBT raised a red flag about a group of scammers aiming to ensnare more victims in a fresh fraud using millions of pilfered funds. In a series of posts on X platform, ZachXBT revealed the outcomes of an inquiry into Leaper Finance, a lending protocol built on Blast. According to the investigation, this group is behind several rug pulls, including those impacting users of Magnate ($6.5 million), Kokomo ($4 million), Solfire ($4.8 million), and Lendora.

The group allegedly allowed the Total Value Locked (TVL) to swell to seven figures before absconding with all users' funds deposited into the protocol, falsifying KYC documents, and engaging low-tier audit firms. They have now expanded their scams to Base, Solana, Scroll, Optimism, Arbitrum, Ethereum, Avalanche, and other platforms, as highlighted by ZachXBT.

Moreover, the group is suspected of orchestrating scams involving Hash DAO, Glori Finance, and ZebraDAO, with estimated losses surpassing $20 million. In a rug pull, developers suddenly withdraw all funds from a liquidity pool or project wallet, leaving investors with worthless tokens or assets.

In their latest fraudulent scheme, the group allegedly transferred nearly $1 million laundered from prior scams to a Leaper Finance address on the Blast network to increase liquidity and attract victims.

Following the exposure of Leaper Finance's connection to the scams, the group responded to ZachXBT, harassing the investigator while announcing a 'token launch.' They made references to the North Korean hacker group Lazarus, indicating potential ties. Leaper Finance and Glori Finance accounts on X have been deactivated, and the projects' websites are now offline.

According to a research report by blockchain security firm Immunefi on Feb. 29, over $200 million worth of cryptocurrency was lost to hacks and rug pulls within the first two months of 2024 across 32 individual incidents.