Social media is abuzz with reports of numerous fake accounts imitating well-known blockchain investigator ZachXBT, following the deactivation of his official account. These imposters have emerged to exploit ZachXBT's reputation for uncovering fraudulent cryptocurrency projects, using his identity to scam unsuspecting individuals.
Michael Khekoian, Director of Partnerships at Web3 security firm Wallet Guard, alerted his 12,700 followers on X (previously known as Twitter) about this deceptive trend. He highlighted the emergence of several accounts impersonating ZachXBT soon after his official profile was deactivated. Khekoian emphasized the dangers posed by these fake accounts, which often lure users into clicking on phishing links and participating in scams by mimicking popular figures like ZachXBT.
An X user, "Nathan.eth", shared a screenshot from Telegram indicating that ZachXBT had temporarily deactivated his account for unspecified reasons. This development follows ZachXBT's notable investigations earlier in the year, including a high-profile legal confrontation involving Jeffrey Huang, also known as MachiBigBrother on Twitter.
Jeffrey Huang publicly announced on June 16 that he had filed a defamation lawsuit against ZachXBT, accusing him of harming his reputation through false claims. This legal action came after ZachXBT's detailed investigation into Huang, titled "22,000 ETH Stolen and More than a Dozen Projects Failed: The Story of Machi Big Brother (Jeff Huang)", was published in June 2022.
In response to the lawsuit, the crypto community rallied around ZachXBT, raising over $1 million in just two days to support his legal defense. Notable contributors to this fund included Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, the former CEO of Binance; Jesse Powell, co-founder of Kraken; and Sandeep Nailwal, founder of Polygon, demonstrating the strong backing ZachXBT has within the cryptocurrency world.
