Scam Sniffer Report: $55 Million Stolen in January Phishing Scams
Analysts at Scam Sniffer have revealed that in January alone, bad actors managed to steal $55 million worth of cryptocurrency and create over 11,000 phishing websites. This surge in phishing attacks coincided with increased activity within the crypto communities following a series of airdrops in the previous month.
Phishing Websites and Stolen Funds
The data shows that scammers impersonated various platforms such as Manta Network, Frame, SatoshiVM, AltLayer, Dymension, zkSync, Pyth, OpenSea, Optimism, Blast, and others. These cybercriminals were successful in pilfering nearly $55 million across Ethereum Virtual Machine-based networks. The top seven victims alone lost $17 million. The majority of these thefts occurred on the Ethereum mainnet, followed by Arbitrum, BNB, Optimism, and Polygon.
Hackers’ Methods
According to Scam Sniffer, hackers often exploited the ERC-20 Permit function to deceive users into unknowingly transferring funds from their non-custodial wallets. They also took advantage of the increaseAllowance function to manipulate token allowances granted to malicious smart contracts. Additionally, perpetrators posed as real projects like Optimism and zKSync by posting fake comments on various platforms.
Transition in Crypto Crime
Chainalysis data reveals a shift in the types of assets involved in crypto crime. Illicit transaction volume now primarily consists of stablecoins. In 2023 alone, illicit crypto addresses received over $24 billion worth of cryptocurrency.
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