Last month saw significant financial losses due to cryptophishing attacks, with scammers estimating damages at $47 million. These attacks were largely executed through fake comments on social media platform X, appearing to originate from reputable accounts.
Phishing via Platform X Leads to Extensive Losses
According to the Scam Sniffer report, Platform X was the scene of phishing attacks in February, affecting over 57,000 individuals. Crypto scammers utilized fake accounts to spread fraudulent comments, resulting in financial losses exceeding $46.8 million. These comments often came from accounts pretending to be other individuals on Twitter.
The report further stated that the Ethereum mainnet was the primary target of the attacks, with 78% of stolen funds consisting of ERC-20 tokens, representing 86% of the total value of stolen assets. Attacks often relied on scams where users were convinced to sign off on dangerous transactions such as Permit, IncreaseAllowance, and Uniswap Permit2.
Increased Risk Due to Account Abstraction
Scam Sniffer also noted that an increasing number of wallet users started utilizing the account abstraction feature for better management of their tokens. This feature brings greater flexibility and compatibility with smart contracts to Ethereum wallet users.
Decrease in Losses Despite Higher Victim Count
Although February saw a higher number of phishing victims compared to January, there was a decrease in the total value of stolen funds. There was also a significant decrease in the number of victims who lost over $1 million.
Scammers often target social media of public figures, where they can respond to posts using fake accounts designed to appear genuine or even hack these accounts to post fraudulent links.
Attacks on Prominent Accounts and Rise in Approval Phishing
In February, the MicroStrategy company's X account was compromised, with thieves making off with cryptocurrencies worth approximately $440,000. Other notable entities such as Compound Finance, Rocket Pool, Blockchain Capital, and even Vitalik Buterin also reported attacks on their accounts on Platform X.
The recent increase in crypto scammer activities includes the so-called "approval phishing," a strategy aimed at convincing victims to authorize transactions, granting thieves access to their wallets and draining funds. A recent FBI report warns that millennials, in particular, are often targeted by these investment scams.
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