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Binance takes decisive action, launching a refund process for victims of the XIRTAM rug pull scam in May, which led to a loss of over $3 million or 1,909 ETH for unsuspecting investors.
Fortunately, the ill-gotten gains were stored in an account on Binance, which froze it after the rug pull tactic was uncovered. XIRTAM was an educational project allowing users to build their reputation using the decentralized XIRTAM ecosystem.
Originally, this was funded by CultDAO, but it was able to raise more than 1,900 ETH in user deposits. After securing the huge deposits in the fundraising round, the XIRTAM developers abruptly and deliberately abandoned the project and drained the deposited value from the contract. The scammers deposited the stolen ETH on Binance, and these assets were immediately frozen.
Given this, CoinTelegraph reported that Binance will return the funds to the investors victimized by the rug pull stunt. The crypto exchange firm said it has launched a smart contract to initiate the refund process.
Binance explained that before deciding to refund, it launched an investigation after receiving several reports regarding the XIRTAM scam. It has taken action and suspended the funds to prevent the scammers from accessing the account.
“In early May 2023, a project using the name “XIRTAM” stole a large sum from its investors and subsequently deposited an estimated 1,909 Ether (ETH) to a Binance.com account. Binance promptly froze the account and the funds deposited, preventing the project team from accessing them,” Binance wrote in its announcement for the refund.
The crypto exchange firm added, “Following this incident, Binance’s security team had worked diligently to analyze the project’s activities and identify victims, including their net losses, in order to facilitate a refund of the frozen funds. Today, as a matter of goodwill, we have launched the recovery process for over 1,750 victim addresses.”
Finally, Binance said that all users who joined the official XIRTAM token sale, both public and private, may be entitled to a refund. They must check their eligibility by following the company’s official guide that involves registration.
Photo by: Kanchanara/Unsplash
