Scam attempts are unfortunately commonplace in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. But one victim has just lost an unprecedented sum: $4.5 million in cryptocurrencies. What happened?
Scam victim loses all her cryptocurrencies to phishing
Several scam detection platforms reported the case today. It has to be said that the transfer was substantial: $4.46 million in USDT was sent to a scammer. :
someone withdrew $4.46 million from Kraken to a fake Coinone crypto-mining exchange about 1 hour ago.https://t.co/ued55jlWdM pic.twitter.com/tsV5BGDY0O
– Scam Sniffer (@realScamSniffer) September 20, 2023
The perpetrator(s) had set up a fake site resembling Coinone’s. The victim thought he was sending his funds to Coinone. The victim thought he was sending his funds to a mining service. But a fake smart contract was used to steal the cryptocurrencies. The scam relies on phishing-type techniques: the victim simply thinks he’s giving authorization for his account to be used by a legitimate service. But in reality, the criminals can withdraw or transfer funds at will.
From the victim’s point of view, the service often appears legitimate: by clicking on a button, he or she is simply asked to pay a fee of a few dozen dollars, to pay the fees on the Ethereum network. But it actually gives access to his or her entire funds. The identity of the victim in this particular case is unknown.
Cryptocurrency scams: beware of phishing!
Phishing is the technique behind many cryptocurrency scams. The challenge for criminals is to get their victims to reveal their private key, or give access authorizations. That’s why disguising yourself as a legitimate site can be so effective.
As far as attacks linked to fake liquidity mining sites are concerned, such as the one the person in question fell victim to, they seem to be becoming more and more prevalent. According to data collected by Dune Analytics, USDT 337 million has been stolen in this way.
Any authorization to access your account should therefore be given with caution. It’s always advisable to check that a site or platform is legitimate, and not to give in to insistent requests for customer service if you’re not sure of their legitimacy.
