Sophisticated Phishing Attack Steals $32M in spWETH from User

A sophisticated phishing attack siphoned off 12,083 Spark Wrapped Ethereum tokens, worth approximately $32 million, on September 27.

According to security firm CertiK, the majority of the funds stolen went into one wallet, around 10,000 spWETH (approximately $26 million), which later landed in four other wallets with respective amounts in Ether of 1,750 ETH, 2,050 ETH, 2,900 ETH and 3,730 ETH.

The identity of the victim is not yet confirmed, but some of the information from Arkham Intelligence does indicate this particular compromised wallet is owned by a man named Shixing Mao, one of the founders of F2Pool.

This is among the most visible incidents of an ongoing, growing trend in crypto phishing scams. According to the report from security firm Scam Sniffer, such attacks rose 215% this August of 2024 alone. Altogether, losses for the month were more than $66 million, with one particularly painful attack totaling $55 million in losses from a single wallet.

The increase in phishing cases is coupled with an increase in technological phishing tool developments. In September, another security firm, Blockaid, reported that one of the most notorious phishing tool software, Angel Drainer, had been overhauled into AngelX. In only four days, this new version launched upwards of 300 phishing DApps targeting newer blockchains like The Open Network and Tron.

A Blockaid spokesperson was in fear about the fact that now, with an enhanced control panel, AngelX is in a better position to devise "increasingly sophisticated and targeted phishing schemes, this is really an ominous development in the evolution of crypto-related cyber threats."