An unsuspecting crypto-enthusiast has found themselves relieved of over 110,000 in XRP after handing it over to ‘Randy Racoon’.

According to reports doing the rounds on Twitter, one unsuspecting XRP holder known as “Mike_DiPalermo” fell foul to an alleged scam after transferring a large sum of the coin, only to be blocked shortly afterwards.

A tweet from Twitter user XRPMichaelB stated Palermo and his brother contacted Randy before transferring “over 110k $XRP to trade for profit”. The tweet states that Randy then blocked them both.

It appears we have a scamming thief in our midst It's Randy Raccoon @cryptorandyy been contacted by @Mike_DiPalermo he and his brother sent Randy over 110k $XRP to trade for profit.

He has since blocked them both@haydentiff @The_Rippening @XrpBoy @XrpMr @PattyB09952203 pic.twitter.com/jcTJlVOO10 — Michael B ⚡️💧 (@XRPMichaelB) May 4, 2019

Randy was quick to respond to the allegations however, and said in a statement that anyone who says he scammed them is lying and that “haters can do f*** right off back to their mommies basements.”

Randy, who joined Twitter in May 2020 appears to be a medium-sized mammal, native to North America, if his Twitter bio is to be believed. Little else is known about Randy as his profile is set so that only confirmed followers are allowed to see his tweets. With just 43 followers and 101 tweets it does not seem that Randy is a particularly prolific Twitter user, perhaps due to the lack of opposable thumbs which would make holding a mobile phone, or tablet a little difficult.

In his rebuttal, he also alleged that the scandal had been fabricated by others who wanted “better engagement”. He added that “I returned ALL investors funds…and they still deny it because they want more money and are trying to scam me.” Randy states that his account was hacked and all of the funds were stolen from one of his exchanges.

According to Randy’s statement, he makes regular trading calls, offering to trade for people. He claims he is a “nice racoon” and makes over 25% gains for each person that he invests for.

https://twitter.com/cryptorandyyy/status/1125378221112004608

Despite Randy’s denial, XRPMichaelB posted a number of screenshots allegedly between Randy and Mike_DIPalermo that show the withdrawal and sending of funds taking place, as well as Randy discussing the increase in the value of XRP.

Other commentators have stated that Randy is a “known scammer” and that people should know better than to “ send over to a damn racoon on the internet”. Another Twitter user known as Cryptosmiley commented that “this scammer has been here for a long time, I can’t believe someone seriously did this.”

Whilst many crypto-enthusiasts have become more savvy around online scams, particularly after the alarm was raised back in 2018, it seems that some are still falling for them. It is never advisable to hand over any amount of money to another individual to trade on your behalf, particularly a stranger on Twitter with a Racoon as an avatar.