In a new Twitter thread, blockchain detective Zachxbt has revealed the identities of four people allegedly connected to various Non-fungible token (NFT) rug pulls.
$2.8M made from scams
In the thread on April 27, he alleged that the four people are from Croatia and had rugged nine different NFT projects, making at least $2.8 million.
1/ Well all too often NFT scammers decide to stick around on Twitter and this group sadly is no different.
Four people from Croatia have rugged 9 different projects since September 2021 & have stolen at least $2.8m all together.
Let’s dive in. pic.twitter.com/TTihrIw3gd
— zachxbt (@zachxbt) April 27, 2022
The NFT projects include DAOTurtles, Saconi Holmovimiento, Pixel Cat Gang, Baller Headz, Bored Ape Tattoo Shop, Trippy Ape, Acid Ape Candy, High Club, and Drippy Jesus. According to him, eight of these projects no longer have active websites, and their Twitter pages have been deleted.
Through their ENS addresses, Zachxbt was able to identify these masterminds. He stated that the three ENS addresses, lexii.eth, keelito.eth, and mvpnft.eth, interacted the most with NFT projects.
It was possible to see this through a graphic visualization of the proceeds from these NFT projects. The visualization shows that most of the funds ended up in 5 accounts on Binance.
A simple Twitter search revealed that two of them are on Twitter; Lexiieth has recently deactivated his account, while keelito.eth has changed his username to hedgefundnft.
However, the person behind keelito.eth is trying to erase their association with the name. They even went as far as burning the name. He has now deleted his Twitter account as well.
But that wasn’t enough to stop Zachxbt from uncovering their real identity. According to him, he was able to use info from an anonymous source and Discord to unmask the four Croatians aged between 20 and 23.
Their real names are allegedly Janko Pribicevic, Fran Kosutic, Martin Vucemil Prelovsek, and Andrija Putanec. All of them are on Instagram, where they follow one another.
7/ Well who are they?
Well using info from discord & an anon friend I was able to link it to these four individuals from Croatia ages 20-23.
Janko Pribicevic
Fran Kosutic
Martin Vucemil Prelovsek (remember mvp.eth)
Andrija PutanecThey all follow each other on Instagram pic.twitter.com/1FcS4SmFFC
— zachxbt (@zachxbt) April 27, 2022
Blockchain transactions leave footprints
This revelation is another example of bad actors in the NFT scene who are scamming thousands of people with projects that have no potential. This year alone, millions have been lost to NFT rug pulls.
One mistake all these scammers make is that they fail to understand they’re not truly anonymous on the blockchain. Through their wallet addresses and online activities, Zachxbt has been able to identify several of them.
However, the absence of a clear regulatory framework makes it difficult to bring these scammers to justice. There have been some positive developments recently with the U.S. Department of Justice arresting and prosecuting the masterminds behind the Frosties NFT rug pull. Meanwhile, New York is considering laws that will make rug pulls a criminal offense.
