{"id":9584,"date":"2022-03-25T13:50:28","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T13:50:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/"},"modified":"2022-03-25T13:50:53","modified_gmt":"2022-03-25T13:50:53","slug":"two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/","title":{"rendered":"Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"\">Recently, an NFT project called Frosties was outed as a scam after its developers made off with over $1 million in ETH only hours after the project was launched. Now, the two men who are allegedly behind the project have been arrested and charged by U.S. prosecutors in the Southern District of New York.<\/p>\n<p>On Thursday, March 24, Ethan Nguyen and Andre Llacuna were charged with money laundering and wire fraud by prosecutors in the case of an NFT rug pull. The court says that prior to their arrests, the two were allegedly preparing to launch the sale of yet another scam NFT project titled, \u201cEmbers\u201d which, upon sell out, could\u2019ve generated around $1.5 million in primary sales.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption>A screenshot of the Frosties team from the now unpublished project website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Frosties, an ice-cream-themed project, was originally billed as a \u201ccool, delectable, and unique\u201d collection of 8,888 NFTs. On the now unpublished website, the project\u2019s developers promised raffles, merch, and even a \u201cspecial fund to ensure the Frosties longevity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Each NFT was priced at 0.04 ETH per mint which means the project, upon sellout, had brought in 355 ETH (right around $1 million). Launched on Jan. 7, Frosties sold out in a few short hours before the project\u2019s Discord mysteriously disappeared.<\/p>\n<p>In connection to the wrongdoings perpetrated by the Frosties project, Nguyen and Llacuna (both age 20), have each been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering \u2014 each of which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1050\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties-Roadmap.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-8941\"  ><figcaption> A screenshot of the Frosties roadmap from the now unpublished project website.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>While this case will certainly act as a cautionary tale for future scammers, this isn\u2019t the first time that an NFT scam of this scale has been carried out. Quite the contrary actually, as this latest news of blockchain justice has served to highlight the growing need for accountability in the NFT space. <\/p>\n<p>When once, fraudulent NFT collections were few and far between, it\u2019s now become increasingly difficult to figure out what budding or soon-to-launch NFT projects might be predatory.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNFTs have been around for several years, but recently mainstream interest has skyrocketed. Where there is money to be made, fraudsters will look for ways to steal it,\u201d U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a press release. \u201cAs we allege, Mr. Nguyen and Mr. Llacuna promised investors the benefits of the Frosties NFTs, but when it sold out, they pulled the rug out from under the victims, almost immediately shutting down the website and transferring the money.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although the blockchain seems to be, at times, a lawless place, the Frosties case showcases that the U.S. justice department undoubtedly has the resources to pursue crime even in a space that thrives off of the idea of decentralization. More specifically, entities created to handle blockchain crime like HSI New York\u2019s Dark Web &amp; Cryptocurrency Task Force and even the IRS have the power to identify and shut down fraud.<\/p>\n<p>But NFT enthusiasts can\u2019t and shouldn\u2019t count on law enforcement to have the ability to always follow blockchain crime \u2014 which is why it\u2019s become more important than ever for consumers to know how to spot NFT red flags and keep themselves safe.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently, an NFT project called Frosties was outed as a scam after its developers made off with over $1 million in ETH only hours after the project was launched. Now, the two men who are allegedly behind the project have been arrested and charged by U.S. prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. On [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9585,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9584","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nft"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v24.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull | NFT &amp; Crypto News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull | NFT &amp; Crypto News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently, an NFT project called Frosties was outed as a scam after its developers made off with over $1 million in ETH only hours after the project was launched. Now, the two men who are allegedly behind the project have been arrested and charged by U.S. prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. On [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NFT &amp; Crypto News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-25T13:50:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-25T13:50:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1919\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"947\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Staff\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/352194e8b0cb9ae3ad5480e201b5f792\"},\"headline\":\"Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-25T13:50:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-25T13:50:53+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/\"},\"wordCount\":554,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"NFT\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/\",\"name\":\"Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull | NFT &amp; Crypto News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-25T13:50:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-25T13:50:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png\",\"width\":1919,\"height\":947},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/\",\"name\":\"NFT &amp; Crypto News\",\"description\":\"Latest NFT and Crypto News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"NFT & Crypto News\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nft-logo-dark-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nft-logo-dark-1.png\",\"width\":844,\"height\":205,\"caption\":\"NFT & Crypto News\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/352194e8b0cb9ae3ad5480e201b5f792\",\"name\":\"Staff\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1725824bb0aca42c3c5b57f7a3adb20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1725824bb0aca42c3c5b57f7a3adb20?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Staff\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull | NFT &amp; Crypto News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull | NFT &amp; Crypto News","og_description":"Recently, an NFT project called Frosties was outed as a scam after its developers made off with over $1 million in ETH only hours after the project was launched. Now, the two men who are allegedly behind the project have been arrested and charged by U.S. prosecutors in the Southern District of New York. On [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/","og_site_name":"NFT &amp; Crypto News","article_published_time":"2022-03-25T13:50:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-25T13:50:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1919,"height":947,"url":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Staff","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Staff","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/"},"author":{"name":"Staff","@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/352194e8b0cb9ae3ad5480e201b5f792"},"headline":"Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull","datePublished":"2022-03-25T13:50:28+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-25T13:50:53+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/"},"wordCount":554,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png","articleSection":["NFT"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/","url":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/","name":"Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull | NFT &amp; Crypto News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png","datePublished":"2022-03-25T13:50:28+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-25T13:50:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png","width":1919,"height":947},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/nft\/two-charged-in-the-case-of-a-pfp-project-rug-pull\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Two Charged in the Case of a PFP Project Rug Pull"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/","name":"NFT &amp; Crypto News","description":"Latest NFT and Crypto News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#organization","name":"NFT & Crypto News","url":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nft-logo-dark-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/nft-logo-dark-1.png","width":844,"height":205,"caption":"NFT & Crypto News"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/352194e8b0cb9ae3ad5480e201b5f792","name":"Staff","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1725824bb0aca42c3c5b57f7a3adb20?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f1725824bb0aca42c3c5b57f7a3adb20?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Staff"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Frosties.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9584","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9584"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9586,"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9584\/revisions\/9586"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nftandcrypto-news.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}