Authorities in Guangdong Province, China, have detained an individual for manipulating identity verification processes to illicitly claim StarkNet (STRK) airdrop rewards.
According to a local report, the suspect, named Lan Mou, used fraudulent identities to participate in StarkNet’s Early Community Member Program (ECMP) over 40 times, unlawfully amassing more than 40,000 STRK tokens. These tokens were later transferred to an OKX wallet and exchanged for Tether, collectively valued at over $91,000. The arrest occurred on April 25, and law enforcement confiscated a computer and two mobile phones likely used in the operation.
StarkNet’s Airdrop and Eligibility Concerns
StarkNet, an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution, initiated an airdrop of 700 million STRK tokens on February 20, targeting Ethereum stakers, developers, and other contributors within the Web3 space. The initiative aimed to reward community engagement and bolster network growth. However, the distribution faced challenges as it became a target for airdrop squatters—individuals who create multiple accounts to claim disproportionate amounts of tokens. Banteg, a developer from Yearn.Finance, highlighted these issues shortly after the airdrop, noting that many of the 1.3 million eligible addresses were linked to potentially fraudulent GitHub accounts.
Precedents of Airdrop Misuse
The exploitation of airdrops is not new in the cryptocurrency sector. In March of the previous year, similar strategies were observed during the Arbitrum (ARB) airdrop. Airdrop hunters were reported to have consolidated $3.3 million worth of tokens from 1,496 wallets into just two, indicating a recurring pattern of abuse in token distributions. These incidents reflect the ongoing vulnerabilities in digital token airdrops, particularly around identity verification and the prevention of fraudulent claims. The case involving StarkNet’s airdrop underscores the need for robust security measures to safeguard against such exploits and ensure the fair distribution of rewards to genuine participants.