Kraken User Falls Victim to $4.5M USDT Loss in Phishing Scam
In yet another successful phishing scheme, an unsuspecting user suffered a multimillion-dollar loss in Tether.
Etherscan data revealed that $4.46 million worth of Tether (USDT) was siphoned from an unsuspecting Kraken wallet user. The stolen funds were subsequently transferred to an address concluding with “ACa7.”
Another Successful Phishing Attack
Details are thin about how the scam was executed, however, prominent blockchain security company PeckShield flagged the address as belonging to the fraudster. Additionally, Scam Sniffer’s research indicated that the funds had been directed to an address associated with a fake Coinone cryptocurrency mining exchange.
A link to the user-generated Dune Analytics dashboard provided by the blockchain intelligence platform indicated that these types of attacks have resulted in scammers pilfering over $337 million worth of USDT in total, affecting nearly 22k individuals.
Phishing scams continue to wreak havoc in the digital industry space, tricking even high-profile and tech-savvy entities on several occasions.
The Global Anti-Scam Organisation notes that this form of approval mining scam commonly deceives victims into granting permission for unrestricted withdrawals from their cryptocurrency wallet.
When a user establishes a self-custodial crypto wallet, they receive a ‘private key’ protected by encryption. However, fraudsters do not require a user’s seed phrase. The organization explained that when a victim opts to participate in the fraudulent mining pool, they are essentially clicking on a button that initiates a request for a network fee in Ether, typically ranging from $10 to $50.
“Mining scams actually like phishing attacks pretending to be “mining” or “liquidity pools”, but instead trick you into authorizing unlimited withdrawals from your cryptocurrency wallet. They may come with a 24/7 “customer service” chat that gives you deceiving explanations.”
Losses Pile Up
Earlier this week, NONE, which happens to be a top-tier suite of trading tools for crypto and NFTs, announced shuttering operations, partly due to an exploit wherein a deployer lost 41.52 ETH in addition to NONE tokens.
An unknown crypto whale also suffered a significant loss of more than $24 million in liquid-staked Ethereum on September 6. Further investigation revealed that the whale had unknowingly granted token approval to the scammers by authorizing “increase allowance” transactions.
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