Scammers Are Using the Iran War to Steal From Crypto Users: ZachXBT’s Full Exposé

On-chain investigator ZachXBT has exposed a coordinated network of 11 X accounts manufacturing fake geopolitical panic about the Iran conflict to funnel followers into crypto pump and dump schemes that have already generated six-figure profits on-chain.

A Five-Step Scam Hiding in Plain Sight

The operation is methodical. According to ZachXBT, the network purchases accounts with existing followers, floods timelines with doom posts about war and politics multiple times a day, cross-reposts across accounts to manufacture virality, then uses the audience to promote fake giveaways and crypto scams before changing usernames to avoid detection.

One of the lead accounts, @wanglaurentceo, operating under the name “Wang Laurent,” accumulated 79.9K followers and cycled through 17 username changes, from “usdtt11” to “xrpinsol” to “edtrumpofficial.”

ZachXBT described it as an AI-generated fake Asian version of Mario Nawfal, created by running Nawfal’s profile photo through an image generation tool to build a credible-looking persona from scratch.

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The Posts That Reached Millions

The content the network produces is designed for fear-driven engagement. Posts claiming Iran threatened to cut undersea cables carrying 95 to 99% of global internet traffic accumulated 26,000 retweets, 50,000 likes, and 1.8 million views, even after X’s Community Notes flagged the claim as factually incorrect.

Large legitimate accounts unknowingly amplified the posts by engaging with them, extending the reach of content they had no reason to doubt.

The Scam Behind the Panic

On February 22, 2026, all ten accounts in the network simultaneously promoted $ORAMAMA, a meme coin on Solana via PumpSwap. They posted about it once and never mentioned it again.

On-chain evidence, according to ZachXBT, confirms the scheme generated six-figure profits.

Blocking the Exposer?

After ZachXBT published his thread, all 11 accounts blocked him simultaneously. His response was pointed: “almost as if they’re operated by one person.”

ZachXBT also raised a broader concern beyond the scam itself: “It’s scary to think about the implications of it if a nation state actor operated the same scheme rather than a meme coin scammer given how easy it is to operate.”

He called for platform bans and legal consequences for manipulation of this kind, and recommended that users review account history and recent posts before engaging with any content on social media, describing it as a personal standard given how widespread engagement farming and AI-generated spam has become.

ZachXBT confirmed that Nikita Bier, X’s head of product, is also aware of these accounts.