Squid coin, a cryptocurrency inspired by the hit Netflix show Squid Game, turned out to be one big scam as its creators performed a rug pull on investors on Monday.

You don't need to be an expert in cryptocurrency to know that they're all the rage right now. You don't even need to be an expert in the phenomenon to invest in some and maybe even make a little money. What is recommended is that you don't get sucked in by one that has suddenly appeared out of nowhere and its name has been inspired by something that happens to be popular at the time.

Squid coin, for example, a cryptocurrency created less than two weeks ago. Its pre-sale price was less than a penny, which prompted a lot of people, presumably some of the 111 million people who have seen Squid Game, to give it a whirl and invest. That coupled with the mainstream media coverage the currency started to receive resulted in its value skyrocketing.

RELATED: Squid Game Doesn't Need A Second Season

By Monday morning Squid coin was worth $2860. Then, a split second later, it was worth nothing, as you can see in the tweet below. That's because Squid coin's creators decided to cash out, performing something known in the industry as a rug pull. Generating a tonne of interest in a cryptocurrency so that a lot of people invest and then selling out, running off with a lot of money in the process. Somewhere in the region of $3.3 million in one instance according to The Washington Post.

Although this happens pretty frequently, Squid coin is somewhat unique. Firstly because its unofficial link to Squid Game generated more interest than usual, pushing the price of Squid coin up higher and faster than usual. Secondly, Squid coin couldn't be sold. Well, not in the traditional sense. Buyers of Squid coin started to report that they were unable to sell their stock, at which point its creators admitted that was by design.

If there already weren't enough red flags in the story above, messages from Squid coin's creators were riddled with grammatical errors, and people were unable to reply to their tweets from its official account. Emails sent to Squid coin's address are now bouncing back, and its current value is less than a penny. That means even those who got in on the ground floor will be making a loss, not that they can sell their stock anyway.

NEXT: The Biggest Gaming News For November 1, 2021