According to PANews, sensitive information of participants from cryptocurrency industry events has been illegally sold under the guise of 'marketing, promotion, and client acquisition.' This data, which includes full names, phone numbers, nationalities, job titles, company affiliations, and personal and business social media links, was collected during event registrations. Cointelegraph obtained a 'sample' list from a seller via Telegram, featuring four lists from different events, each containing 60 to 100 participants with various data points. These events primarily occurred in the fall of 2024, with participants from countries like Southeast Asia and India, indicating an organized trade of international blockchain event participant data.
The lists are just a fraction of the data available. The seller also shared sample images linked to Blockchain Fest and Devcon. Notably, one list allegedly contains information on 1,700 attendees of the November 2024 AIBC conference in Malta. The seller intends to offer this list to a limited number of buyers, reducing the price from nearly $4,000 to $650. The seller claims to use the proceeds to purchase more lists and shared screenshots of the database. Both the seller and data compiler remain anonymous but appear to be Russian, as one sample dataset is labeled in Russian, and AI analysis suggests the seller is a native Russian speaker. This information could facilitate social engineering scams, posing a threat to the security of participants' cryptocurrency wallets.
