ROBIN HOOD Rug Pull

Reported loss $313K
Rugpull

What happened

ROBIN HOOD (HOOD) is an ERC-20 token on Ethereum at 0x5db5bbd5…2883de, deployed on 17 July 2023 by 0x31a28754…F39740. Its owner() reads as the zero address from the moment of deployment, which makes it look renounced, but the constructor stores a separate privileged address, _user.user, that the verified code never exposes. That address can flag any wallet through a look-alike function named Approve (capital A), after which every transfer from the flagged wallet reverts, and it can credit itself any number of tokens through a non-standard increaseAllowance without changing totalSupply.

What actually happened was simpler: on 18 July 2023 the deployer removed its Uniswap V3 liquidity position in transaction 0xaba264e8…af9a79, taking about 164.8 WETH (about $313.6K) and about 23.31 billion HOOD out of the pool. Cyvers reported that the ETH was moved to 0x4dd9dd83…e6a294.

How it happened

  1. The Ownable constructor runs _setOwner(address(0));, so the contract never has a visible owner, while the RobinHood constructor saves a hidden controller: _user.user = user_;.
  2. Approve(address spender, uint256 amount) calls _checkAllowance, which, only when the caller is _user.user, sets _dex[spender] = spender;. This is a blacklist entry disguised as an approval.
  3. Every transfer and transferFrom first runs _checkBalance. For a flagged wallet, _decode(sender, _dex[sender]) is true and the code subtracts the whole supply, amount = _totalSupply; _minus(sender, amount);, which underflows and reverts, so that wallet cannot sell.
  4. increaseAllowance(spender, amount) adds amount straight to _balances[spender] when spender is _user.user, creating tokens with no Transfer event and no change to _totalSupply.
  5. Separately from these code controls, the deployer held the Uniswap V3 liquidity position. On 18 July 2023 it removed that position, withdrawing about 164.8 WETH and 23.31 billion HOOD, and the ETH was moved to another wallet.

Protocol details

Classification Token
Protocol Type Exit Scam/Rugpull
Affected asset / contract ROBIN HOOD

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