Crypto start-up co-founder scammed out of $125,000

Bill Lou, the co-founder of Nest Wallet, was scammed out of $125,000 stEth while attempting to claim the $LFG airdrop.

“I’m devastated guys,” Lou said via X after being “scammed out of $125K” despite his status as a co-founder of a wallet startup “that’s trying to improve wallet security.”

Lou “saw an article guide to the airdrop” and followed “the link to sign a message.”

The Nest Wallet co-founder “didn’t even question it” at the time, and Lou claims that he was using a Metamask wallet instead of his own service, Nest Wallet, as he had a “test version installed.”

Metamask is supposedly “a safe and simple way to access blockchain applications” according to its website. However, Lou claims that his product, Nest Wallet, “would have literally caught it.”

The transaction link that drained 52 stEth ($125,000) remains on his X profile.

“F*CK METAMASK, F*CK MY OWN STUPIDITY,” Lou writes as he expresses how his “greedy ass” was attempting to “claim an airdrop at midnight instead of going to sleep.”

A cryptocurrency airdrop is a marketing strategy where a company gives out a small amount of coins or tokens to wallet addresses. This is typically used to promote a company's blockchain services.

According to Lou, he visited an illegitimate website impersonating the site lessfeesandgas.org.

In Lou’s ongoing personal investigation with Hackers Residue, “the hacker has scammed a total of 66 Eth,” which includes his 52 and another 14 Eth, which equates to roughly $31K from other people.

“It does not seem like a one person job,” said Lou in a recent post.

“Currently, the stolen funds have all been moved to this wallet,” along with a link to the wallet.