Bad actors are attracted to the blockchain space due to its anonymous nature; these individuals seek to scam and steal funds from investors. This time, a group of fraudsters targets the already embattled investors of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. To target these potential victims, scammers offer the return of their lost funds.
On Friday, the troubled exchange issued an alert to prevent its community from being a victim of this scam. The new attack vector to bait FTX customers impersonates the platform. Bad actors ask for a payment as a fee to allegedly transfer funds or require an account password to trick their victims.
While addressing its community in a recent tweet, the FTX team confirmed that the exchange’s debaters and agents never ask for a fee or an account’s sensitive information. The tweet reads:
We are aware of active third-party scams and frauds seeking to take advantage of FTX customers. Please note that neither the FTX debater nor any of their agent will ask you for money, fee, payments or any passwords for your accounts in connection with the return or prospective return of customer assets.
Additionally, the team provided an inquiry email address in the alert note that the victim users can contact to check the legitimacy of a message or any recovery offer they received.
Bitcoin’s price currently stands above $23,500 in the daily chart. | Source: BTCUSD price chart from TradingView.com
Crypto Scams Targeting FTX Customers Are On The Rise
It was not the first attempt by fraudsters to target FTX customers. Since the Sam Bakman-Fried-led exchange collapsed in November, wiping out billions of dollars, scammers got new opportunities to deceive debaters by promising them to return their funds.
Likewise, days after the FTX filed for bankruptcy in November, a fake video popped up on Twitter impersonating the exchange’s founder, Sam Bakman-Fried (SBF). Fraudsters faked SBF asking users to go to an unsafe website to “double their crypto funds.” It looked real as the bad actors used a verified account on Twitter.
Furthermore, a month after FTX’s downfall, the Oregon Division of Financial Regulation (ODF) issued a warning about a scam website offering to return the victims’ funds. When the SBF-led exchange was struggling with its financial condition, fraudsters ran this fake website and faked it to look like the U.S. Department of State ran it. But in reality, bad actors were looking to capture sensitive information from the users.
TK Keen, an administrator at the DFR, noted in a statement;
The crypto trading market is fluid and full of people trying to take advantage of you. We have said this before, but if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We encourage everyone to do their homework and invest wisely….
Featured image from Pixabay and chart from TradingView.com
Social media platforms, particularly Meta's, are increasingly targeted by scammers worldwide, raising concerns about user safety and the effectiveness of platform moderation. Despite efforts to combat scams, Meta's response to fabricated news and inadequate safety measures underscore the ongoing challenge of protecting users from online threats.
WeatherlyA new type of cryptocurrency scam has emerged recently. This scam generally uses offline physical transactions as the main scenario, uses USDT as a payment method, and uses the Remote Procedure Call (RPC) of the Ethereum node to conduct fraudulent activities.
JinseFinanceThe SlowMist Security Team and the Rabby Wallet Team discovered a phishing attack using Google ads.
JinseFinanceWhat wallet thieves are there in 2023? How do they initiate fishing activities? What are the common phishing signatures?
JinseFinanceCrypto scammers execute a $58M heist via phishing campaigns on Google and X ads, utilizing a 'Wallet Drainer' and evading detection with regional targeting and redirect tricks.
Hui XinA case involving digital collectibles surfaced, shedding light on a deceptive fundraising scheme. Unaware bidders, lured into impulsive investments, found themselves unwitting participants in a pyramid scheme. Investigations revealed that the platform in question absorbed over 1.34 million yuan from thousands of users, resulting in a total loss of more than 410,000 yuan for the victims.
JoyBump assisted a 17-year-old high school student in dealing with issues related to a blocked account on a cryptocurrency exchange.
OliveA phishing operation operating under the alias FrenTechPro, masquerading as the Friend.Tech tool, has reportedly siphoned off around $214,000 in crypto from seven blockchains.
KikyoTerra’s website has been breached, with urgent phishing scam warnings being announced to warn users to avoid engaging with the terra(dot)money domain till there’re further updates.
CatherineIn addition to fake ETH 2.0 tokens and malicious token airdrops, cryptocurrency users should also be wary of staking pools offering attractive staking yields.
Cointelegraph