According to Cointelegraph: Tether's CEO, Paolo Ardoino, has advised extreme caution among cryptocurrency users following potential compromises of a widely-used email list management provider by crypto firms. There are suspicions that a crypto airdrop scam may be utilising this data breach.
Ardoino has revealed that two independent confirmations of a possible compromise have been received, but did not disclose the name of the vendor involved. He advised his 234,000 followers to be wary of any emails suggesting crypto-airdrops from the last 24 hours and promised further details once investigations are completed.
CoinGecko, a cryptocurrency tracking site, subsequently confirmed the breach. Bobby Ong, the co-founder and COO, warned that CoinGecko may potentially be affected. He advised users against clicking on any links related to a fraudulent CoinGecko token that is falsely claimed to be in the planning stages.
Senior Blockchain Scientist at Cyvers, Hakan Unal, advised users to double-check the authenticity of the emails and ensure the activation of two-factor authentication (2FA) on all crypto-platforms to improve security.
Crypto scams and breaches remain significant issues in the cryptocurrency industry. According to cybersecurity firm PeckShield, losses from 30 individual crypto hacks amounted to over $574 million in May 2024; a 666% increase month-over-month from $385 million in April.