PANews, December 23 - According to Cointelegraph, under the guise of 'marketing, promotion, and finding customers,' sensitive information lists of participants in cryptocurrency industry events are being sold illegally, becoming a treasure trove of data coveted by scammers and malicious actors. These lists detail participants' full names, phone numbers, nationalities, positions, affiliated companies, and personal and business social media links, often collected during the registration process at conferences or breakout sessions. Cointelegraph obtained a 'sample' list from a seller via Telegram, which includes four lists from different events, each containing about 60 to 100 participants and various data points. Most events will take place in the fall of 2024, with participants from countries such as Southeast Asia and India. This indicates organized international data trading involving blockchain event participants.
These lists are just the tip of the iceberg, and the seller has shared other sample images related to Blockchain Fest and Devcon. Among them, a list allegedly containing the names of 1,700 attendees of the Malta AIBC conference in November 2024 is particularly noteworthy. The seller claims it will be “available to a select few,” with prices dropping from nearly $4,000 to $650. The seller claims they will use the proceeds to purchase more lists and has shared screenshots of the database. The identities of the seller and the data compiler are anonymous, but they appear to be Russian; one sample dataset is labeled in Russian, and AI analysis also indicates that the seller is a native Russian speaker. This information could fuel social engineering scams, threatening the security of participants' cryptocurrency wallets.