A crypto whale reportedly lost over $32 million worth of altcoins in a notable phishing attack in recent days. This incident stands out as one of the most notable DeFi thefts in recent memory.

Blockchain security service ScamSniffer was the first to draw attention to the massive theft in a post on social media platform X. The victim lost 12,083 wrapped Ethereum (spWETH) tokens worth approximately $32.4 million from decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Spark. The loss occurred after the whale signed a malicious transaction, allowing the hackers to drain the funds from his wallet.

This phishing scam appears to be part of a broader operation by a “fraud as a service” platform called Inferno Drainer. According to blockchain intelligence firm Arkham, Inferno Drainer targets DeFi users via fake versions of well-known apps, convincing them to sign over control of their wallets. To date, Inferno Drainer has stolen over $215 million in altcoins from over 200,000 victims, according to Dune Analytics.

Inferno Drainer’s administrators allegedly received a 20% commission on stolen tokens. The scam service was shut down in November 2023, but resurfaced in May 2024 with improved capabilities and expanded support.

While the victim’s identity has yet to be verified, blockchain sleuth ZachXBT has suggested that the hacked wallet belongs to a whale named CZSamSun. It’s worth noting that this person is different from Paradigm researcher and X user @samczsun. In a desperate attempt to recover the stolen altcoin funds, the victim sent a message to the attacker offering a 20% reward for returning the assets, but no response has been received from the scammer. Blockchain analytics firm LookOnChain has issued a reminder on X to warn users: “To avoid being phished, please do not click on unknown links and avoid signing signatures that you do not recognize. Always be careful when signing.”

Additionally, a recent report revealed that while online hacking incidents in the cryptocurrency world are decreasing, physical crypto thefts are on the rise.