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USDT lost $4.46 million to a phishing scam in which the funds were illegally transferred from its owner's Kraken wallet to the scammer's wallet.
Cryptocurrency scammers strike again
The scam was reported by blockchain security firm PeckShield, which identified an address ending in “ACa7” as the phishing scammer’s address. Shortly after, fraud platform Scam Sniffer added information about the incident, revealing that funds had been transferred to an address linked to the “fake cryptocurrency exchange Coinone.”
#PeckShieldAlert address 0x2175…f7D9 was scammed out of $4.46 million.
Victim address: 0x2175c0082d052872501f7fe54e1aC59858aaf7D9
Scammer's address: 0xAbb07822F471773Ff00b9444308ceEB7cf0dACa7 pic.twitter.com/Ny9CIrkBxw— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 21, 2023
While the details of how this scam is carried out are still being investigated, the large amounts of money used by cybercriminals illustrate the sophistication.
Phishing has become a popular scam method as more people become aware of other methods. According to the Dune Analytics dashboard, fraudsters used phishing and other similar tactics to steal a total of $337.1 million from 21,953 victims in September 2021.
According to the Global Anti-Fraud Organization, victims of this mining license scam are often tricked into allowing unlimited withdrawals from their cryptocurrency wallets.
“When you create an offline cryptocurrency wallet, you receive an encrypted 'private key'. However, scammers do not need your ancestry,” GASO said. If the victim clicks on a link to join the fake mining, the victim will receive an amount of Ether worth between $10 and $50, GASO announced on its website. Click the button to request payment.
Although this amount seems reasonable, GASO points out that this is a way to deceive the user. “This is simply an excuse to obtain a digital signature on your license that allows unrestricted access to your wallet via the USDT smart contract.”
Phishing attacks: a growing threat
It should be noted that phishing could be the fourth most common form of fraud by the end of the year.
This incident follows a similar incident in early September in which the cryptocurrency lost an estimated $24 million worth of various crypto assets from its Ethereum wallet due to a phishing scam. This was reportedly one of the largest single cryptocurrency thefts via a phishing attack to date.
The user lost $24.23 million in cryptocurrency due to the phishing scam.
An unknown user lost $24.23 million (4850.9 rETH and 9579.2 stETH) through phishing.
The wallet owner verified multiple transactions and the EnhanceAllowanse function that allowed the attacker access… pic.twitter.com/00cDw99evd
— Iren Barnes (@IrenCryptoQueen) September 7, 2023
The stolen assets included 9,579 Lido Staked ETH (stETH), then worth $15.6 million, and 4,851 Rocket Pool ETH (rETH), then worth $8.5 million.
With the ever-increasing number of incidents and losses, authorities and organizations advise cryptocurrency users to take strict security measures. This includes protecting private keys, exercising caution when responding to unsolicited offers or requests for personal information, and conducting thorough research before deciding to join fake cryptosystems.
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