- A HitBTC “clone” alone generated $15 million
- The network includes about two dozen such resources
Yesterday, May 15, the Mist Track team issued a warning about a new network of phishing projects.
Fraudsters use “clones” of popular CEX, dApps, and other Web3 sites to steal user data and their funds.
For example, just a copy of HitBTC, a Hong Kong exchange portal, brought in about $15 million in BTC, ETH, and USDT.
Like most phishing projects, this one asks for unlimited approval, after which it simply “siphons” money from the user’s account.
The trick only works for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tron networks. The analysts also attached several addresses to the publication that likely belong to criminals:
- 3BvQyAZwBXxk7rEStd6burfQgQ5AD2FFsq.
- TCV1cN2iRG1F1NHwr3GnujhNkEbBoXdZs8.
- 0xB59299A0F15a28a2Bfc671BC0c2231184292C01b1.
- 0xdc961cF2F71dd0ab4f83eA294dBfEF1970ae15c6.
Besides, scammers have deployed a whole network of such resources.
The attached Mist Track list contains copies of LedgerX and Coinone sites. The true extent of the damage caused by attackers is unknown.
In late March, we published the results of a Kaspersky Lab study. As it turned out, every third cryptocurrency investor was affected by theft.
From 2021 to 2022, the number of phishing attacks increased by 40%.
Gradually, this type of criminal activity is replacing extortion because it is simpler, more accessible, and allows it to reach a huge audience immediately.