58 Million Drained from Wallet

A "Wallet Drainer" has been identified in phishing campaigns targeting Google search and X ads, resulting in $58 million drained from over 63,000 victims over a span of 9 months.

Scam Sniffer, an anti-scam platform, initially detected the scam in March and collaborated with the Slow Mist Team in early April, uncovering trails of the malicious activity.

The platform recently shared insights into the operation, revealing that renowned blockchain investigator ZachXBT disclosed nine phishing ads on X.

Over 60% of these ads were linked to a common wallet drainer, indicative of the campaign's reach and impact.

Hackers' Scam Techniques Unveiled

The platform's post detailed the techniques employed by the hackers, highlighting the use of regional targeting and page-switching tactics to circumvent ad audits.

This complexity, as noted, adds a layer of challenge to the review process, facilitating the approval of malicious ads.

Moreover, the post pointed out that phishing ads utilised redirect tricks to create an illusion of legitimacy.

By disguising links as official domains, they managed to lead victims to phishing sites, contributing to the success of the fraudulent scheme.

Rise in Crypto Scams

The surge in reports of sophisticated crypto scams is evident in recent incidents, such as the hack targeting the peer-to-peer trading platform NFT Trader.

This attack resulted in the theft of millions of dollars' worth of high-value Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs).

The NFT platform acknowledged the breach, attributing the hackers' entry point to "old smart contracts" and advising users to revoke permissions granted to these contracts.

Attacker's Ransom Proposal

In a twist, the attacker left a public message on the blockchain, blaming another user for the NFT exploit and proposing the return of tokens for a ransom – 3 ETH per Bored Ape and 0.6 ETH per Mutant Ape.

These developments underscore the escalating complexity and frequency of cyber threats within the cryptocurrency space, urging heightened vigilance from users and platforms alike.