After Donald Trump’s TRUMP token, the Central African Republic became the second country where memecoins took centre stage in politics. However, the launch of the Central African Republic Meme (CAR) token has been controversial.
The CAR token launched on Monday, February 10, the same day scammers targeted it. A security firm, Scam Sniffer, uncovered an advanced phishing operation against users looking to buy the token.
Attackers embedded fraudulent links through platforms like Linktree. They also used fake CloudFlare CAPTCHA verification pages, which executed malicious code.
This involved PowerShell droppers, which executed malware on the victim’s devices. This malware enables attackers to remotely control devices, potentially giving them access to the victim’s hot wallets.
It also provides the attacker access to sensitive information, including keystrokes and clipboard access for passwords.
Further investigation revealed that scammers distributed malicious links on the CaronSolana Telegram page. The link to this Telegram group also appeared on CoinGecko’s CAR page before it was taken down.
CAR Token Experiment Faces Criticism
Launched as the first official memecoin by any country, it caused many to draw parallels with Donald Trump’s TRUMP token. However, the phishing scam was one issue that the Central African Republic’s memecoin faced.
Various AI detection tools initially scanned President Faustin-Archange Touadéra’s video as a potential deepfake. While the video seems authentic, potentially with an AI-generated background, this issue was a sign of things to come.
Shortly after the launch, the car.meme website became inaccessible. The domain registrar, NameCheap, confirmed on X that they suspended the website, calling it an “abusive service.” An X account named @Carmeme_news was suspended for no reason given.
Moreover, blockchain data shows that 80% of the CAR’s supply was in just six addresses connected to the project team. With very little information about token unlocks, concerns emerged about a potential rug pull.
Issues with the project, including its tokenomics, add to the concerns. For this reason, several analysts have urged investors to proceed with extreme caution when investing in CAR.
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