Saudi Crown Prince Memecoin Scam Highlights Rising Crypto Fraud Trend

Scammers impersonating Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched a fake cryptocurrency called the "Official" Saudi Arabia memecoin (KSA) to exploit the growing interest in celebrity-endorsed memecoins. The fraudulent token was announced by a fake account, "SaudiLawConf," which posed as the crown prince. The scam raised suspicion due to the absence of official Saudi government communication and lack of transparency about the token's economics or utility.

The legitimate Saudi Law Conference confirmed on LinkedIn on February 17 that their account had been hacked and disavowed any connection to the KSA token. Data from Pump.fun revealed that the token contract was created onchain on February 10, a week before the announcement, and garnered only $7,489 in market capitalization.

This incident follows the recent collapse of the Libra (LIBRA) token, endorsed by Argentine President Javier Milei, which lost over 94% of its value within hours after insiders withdrew $107 million in liquidity. Other political-themed memecoins like the Official Trump (TRUMP) and Melania Meme (MELANIA) tokens have also performed poorly, with TRUMP down 76% and MELANIA dropping over 90%, according to TradingView.

Blockchain expert Anndy Lian stressed the importance of investor due diligence, urging scrutiny of project teams and transparency to avoid scams. The trend of political figure-endorsed memecoins has led to significant losses for investors, underscoring the need for caution in the volatile crypto market.