An investigation by Zachxbt has uncovered the disturbing evolution of Serpent (SerpentAU), a former pro Fortnite player turned crypto scammer.
Once celebrated as a gaming talent in Australia, Serpent’s descent into fraud highlights a troubling shift from esports fame to orchestrating meme coin scams and gambling away stolen funds.
Serpent’s fall began in June 2020, when he was released from the esports organization Overtime after being caught cheating. In March 2022, he co-founded the NFT project DAPE, which later rug-pulled its investors. By March 2024, he launched another project called ERROR, which also rug-pulled, leading to his ban from X (formerly Twitter). On October 23, 2024, the ERROR deployer address transferred 29 ETH to two instant exchanges. A timing analysis revealed that these funds were sent to a Solana-based casino deposit address.
1/ An investigation into how the threat actor Serpent went from a pro Fortnite player to helping steal $3.5M via meme coin scams launched from 9+ account compromises on X & IG and gambling the proceeds away at online casinos. https://t.co/zR6QtuQW8a pic.twitter.com/Y8ovnEnQgj
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) November 27, 2024
The investigation links Serpent to numerous account takeovers (ATOs) on platforms like X and Instagram, including high-profile targets such as McDonald’s, Usher, Andy Ayrey, Dean Norris, and Enoshima Aquarium. Serpent reportedly gambled millions of dollars monthly on platforms like Roobet, Stake, BC Game, and Shuffle, often screensharing his sessions on Discord. Inadvertently, these sessions exposed deposit and withdrawal addresses tied to the scams.
One notable collaborator, an alias known as Dex from Massachusetts, was linked to the Andy Ayrey compromise. Dex allegedly panicked when named in Zachxbt’s Telegram channel, concocting an extortion story and claiming he lost $700K.
Currently, funds from Serpent’s schemes remain tied to several addresses, including 0xeb60a5242c1c97eb54195ec83de43bb26813c0d1 and 4jjWZ8RaXZBqntnhu2JFidXEQWXgfKRbJQZdTHrdaqbv. As of today, Serpent has begun deleting posts from his new X account, suggesting additional compromises that have yet to be fully traced on-chain. This investigation exposes the alarming convergence of gaming culture, crypto fraud, and online gambling.
Disclosure: This is not trading or investment advice. Always do your research before buying any cryptocurrency or investing in any services.
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