Fake memecoin contract addresses and impostor accounts

What is a fake contract address?

A fake contract address is the address of a copy of a coin, passed off as the real one. The copy has the same name, ticker and picture, but it's a different coin, and buying it gets you nothing of the original.

Launching a coin takes seconds, so a popular coin can have dozens of copies within minutes. Some are honest relaunches; see What is a vamp coin?. The ones that pretend to be the original are the problem.

How do I check a coin's address?

Get the address from a source you already trust, then compare all of it, character by character, against the coin you're about to buy. Don't trust an address because it was posted quickly or loudly.

1. Find the address in a post from the coin's own account that you've followed for a while, or its pinned post, not from replies.
2. Copy it, never type it from a picture.
3. Compare the whole address, not just the first and last few characters: copies are often made to match those.
4. Open the address on the chain's explorer or the launchpad's page, and check when the coin was created and by which wallet.
5. Check the chain: a coin on Solana and one on Robinhood Chain with the same name are different coins.

What are the signs of a copy?

A copy is usually newer, smaller and quieter than the coin it copies. When two coins share a name, the creation time is the quickest thing to compare.

• Created minutes ago, when the coin people are talking about is days old.
• Few holders and little volume, or volume that comes from a handful of wallets.
• The same links as the original. A copy can paste the real coin's website and X account into its own page; that proves nothing.
• A different launchpad or chain from the one the coin's team named.

How do impostor accounts work?

An impostor account copies a coin's or a person's profile on X or another network, then posts a fake address or a fake link. Replies under popular posts are where they're most often seen.

• Look-alike handles: an extra letter, an underscore, a swapped character.
• New accounts with a copied picture and bio, and few real followers.
• Replies posting an address under the real account's posts, so they look connected.
• “Official”, “real” or “migration” in a name or a post, to sound like the team.
• Accounts posing as a famous person to make a coin look endorsed. A coin about someone isn't backed by them unless they say so on their own account.

What about fake sites and support?

Some impostors don't sell a copy at all: they send you to a fake site that asks you to connect a wallet, sign something, or type in your key.

• No real coin, launchpad or tool needs your private key or recovery phrase. Anyone asking for one is trying to steal.
• Check the address bar before you connect or sign. memetools's site is memetools.fun.
• Read what a wallet asks you to sign. A buy should spend what you asked for, not approve someone to move your tokens.
• “Support” that messages you first, offers to fix a wallet, or asks for a key is a scam.

memetools never asks for your private key or wallet password, and nor does anyone helping you with it.

How can launchers protect their coin?

Post the address once, from the coin's own account, and pin it. Then tell your community, plainly and often, that the pinned post is the only address.

• Use one account per coin, and link it from the coin's page so buyers can check both ways.
• Never post the address only as a picture; make it easy to copy.
• Warn about copies when you see them, without repeating their address.
• If you launched from a post, say the coin is a community meme, not the poster's: see Launch a coin from a tweet.

Risks

A transaction on a blockchain can't be reversed: money sent to a copy or a scammer is gone. Memecoins are highly speculative, and most lose nearly all their value even when they're real.

• Checking an address tells you which coin it is, not whether the coin is worth anything.
• Nothing here is financial advice.