2 weeks ago
A unfortunate mislaid $908,551 successful a crypto phishing scam 15 months aft signing a malicious support transaction. The scammer waited until 2 ample deposits were made earlier striking.
A crypto idiosyncratic mislaid $908,551 to a wallet-draining scam 458 days aft unknowingly signing a malicious support transaction, onchain information shows.
The onslaught originated from an ERC-20 support transaction — apt signed via a phishing tract oregon fake airdrop — that gave the scammer’s wallet, “0x67E5Ae,” ongoing support to entree the victim’s funds.
The scammer — linked to the notorious pink-drainer.eth wallet code — executed the theft connected Aug. 2 astatine 4:57am UTC, stealing $908,551 worthy of the USDC (USDC) stablecoin, Scam Sniffer pointed retired connected X. The theft came 458 days aft the unfortunate signed the phishing support transaction connected April 30, 2024.
The information incidental prompted Scam Sniffer to punctual crypto users to “regularly reappraisal and revoke aged approvals,” oregon else, hard-earned funds whitethorn beryllium astatine risk.
“Your wallet information matters,” it added.
Source: Scam SnifferThe scammer’s patience paid off
Until a period ago, the victim’s compromised wallet had seen minimal transaction enactment and held small worth — giving the attacker nary inducement to act.
That changed connected July 2, erstwhile the unfortunate deposited $762,397 into the tainted wallet address, “0x6c0eB6,” from a MetaMask wallet astatine 8:41pm UTC.
Ten minutes later, different $146,154 successful USDC was transferred into the aforesaid wallet from a Kraken wallet.
Related: $3.5B Bitcoin heist from 2020 retroactively uncovered — Arkham Intel
The scammer apt monitored the wallet implicit the adjacent month, waiting to spot if much funds would travel into it earlier deciding to drain the funds successful a azygous transaction connected Aug. 2.
This delayed onslaught is simply a defining trait of phishing support attacks: scammers hold astir for months, striking lone erstwhile the victim’s wallet equilibrium makes it worthwhile.
Tools already beryllium to forestall these attacks
To assistance forestall specified attacks, Ethereum users tin usage Etherscan’s Token Approval Checker to reappraisal and revoke unnecessary token approvals — though each revocation requires a gas fee.
Bad actors and scammers stole implicit $142 million from the crypto abstraction successful July crossed astatine slightest 17 abstracted attacks, with the exploit of crypto speech CoinDCX accounting for the astir important loss.
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