As the frenzy surrounding meme coins continues to grip the crypto market, scammers are capitalizing on investors' heightened risk tolerance fueled by fear of missing out (FOMO). Recent revelations by ZachXBT shed light on the alarming trend of Solana presale meme coin projects being abandoned, leaving investors high and dry after collectively amassing $26.7 million.

In a cautionary post on April 21, ZachXBT highlighted the abandonment of 12 Solana presale meme coin projects within just one month, sounding the alarm for investors to steer clear of future projects associated with the listed founders. The warning comes in the wake of a downturn experienced by many of these projects shortly after launch, with some failing to even release an actual token.

Among the projects singled out is "I like this coin" (LIKE), initiated by the pseudonymous founder pokeee.eth, which raised a staggering 52,220 Solana (SOL), equivalent to $7.7 million. However, LIKE's value plummeted by over 90% within the first eight hours of trading, marking a devastating 99.2% decline from its launch price.

Similarly, MOONKE, launched by another anonymous figure, RockyXBT, saw an initial valuation approaching $500 million but suffered a similar fate, witnessing a drop of over 99% in value shortly after its introduction to the market.

The trend extends to other projects like the one initiated by founder Jared_eth, which raised 4,567 SOL worth approximately $812,000 but failed to materialize as no token was ever launched.

The surge in scammer activity targeting meme coin investors is underscored by a recent study by cybersecurity firm Blockaid, revealing that 50% of presale tokens launched on the Solana blockchain between November 2023 and February 2024 were malicious. Ido Ben-Natan, co-founder of Blockaid, attributes this spike in scammer activity to the surge in presale token adoption during February and March, driven by the popularity of legitimate meme coins.

Individuals like Jared_eth and Bluekirbyftm, identified by ZachXBT and Blockaid, are among those flagged as scammers taking advantage of users' FOMO.

While the meme coin craze has led to significant losses for investors in abandoned projects, recent weeks have seen a decline in market enthusiasm for meme coins, with several Solana-based tokens experiencing substantial slides in value.

As investors navigate the volatile landscape of meme coins, caution and due diligence are paramount to avoid falling victim to scams orchestrated by opportunistic actors seeking to exploit market hype.