Updated: March 11, 2024, 1:45 a.m. EDT
Phishing attacks continue to cause significant losses to cryptocurrency users.
According to data from security firm Scam Sniffer, an estimated 97,000 users were affected by phishing incidents in the first two months of this year, ultimately amounting to a staggering $104 million in losses. This includes $57.7 million in losses from phishing incidents in January and $46.8 million in losses in February.
Ethereum users were the main targets, with $78 million in total losses related to user assets such as Ether and ERC20 tokens.
Most of the funds stolen were due to victims unknowingly signing malicious phishing signatures such as 'ERC20 Permit' and 'increaseAllowance'. If these signatures are malicious, the attacker can gain access to the victim's funds without the victim's knowledge.
Phishing attacks can be a major concern as a single malicious signature can result in the loss of all assets stored in a wallet.
Users directed to phishing sites via social media
Scam Sniffer's analysis also shed light on the tactics used by these cybercriminals, noting that many victims were lured to phishing sites through deceptive comments on social media platforms, especially Twitter . These comments masquerade as legitimate accounts and redirect users to malicious sites where their assets are attempted to be compromised.
“Most victims were directed to phishing websites through phishing comments from spoofed Twitter accounts,” Scam Sniffer notes.
The total amount of funds lost to users due to cryptocurrency phishing attacks reached $300 million in all of 2023.
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