The year 2023 marked a critical period for security in the cryptocurrencies universe, as phishing attacks reached alarming levels, with million-dollar losses and increasingly sophisticated tactics used by scammers.
Scam Sniffer, through its exhaustive analysis, revealed the expansion of “Wallet Drainers”, a form of malware that has perpetrated massive thefts of digital assets from unsuspecting users.
During this period, around $295 million in assets were stolen from approximately 324,000 victims, with theft spikes associated with group events, such as airdrops or hacking incidents.
For example, around $7 million was siphoned off on March 11, influenced by fluctuations in the USDC rate and phishing sites impersonating Circle.
Additionally, incidents such as the breach of Arbitrum’s Discord before its airdrop led to a significant increase in theft.
Among the protagonists of these frauds, Inferno Drainer led the operations, looting $81 million of cryptocurrencies from 134,000 users in just nine months.
MS Drainer, Angel Drainer and others also joined this crime wave, netting at least $47 million through a 20% drainer fee.
Monkey Drainer’s cryptocurrencies exit made way for Venom Drainer, who took over part of his clientele
The methods employed by these fraudulent sites were varied and cleverly designed to attract victims.
These methods included hacking attacks on official cryptocurrencies project accounts, spamming Twitter mentions, creating fake airdrops, and exploiting expired links on Discord.
Interestingly, the choice of phishing method was often related to the contents of the victim’s wallet, showing a personalized approach on the part of the scammers.
Scam Sniffer, through its scanning of almost 12 million URLs, detected around 145,000 malicious URLs and maintains a blacklist of almost 100,000 malicious domains, disseminating this information on platforms such as Chainabuse.
Additionally, they share information about major theft cases through social media, seeking to raise awareness and strengthen the public’s understanding of these phishing threats.
Scam Sniffer’s findings underscore the urgency for enhanced cybersecurity measures and collective action within the cryptocurrency community to combat these increasingly intricate and damaging phishing attacks.
Through continued surveillance, education and collaborative actions, the industry can aim to mitigate these growing threats and strengthen the security of the ever-evolving web3 space.
