The Lazarus Group, a notorious hacking group believed to be associated with North Korea, has targeted the hackers who recently stole almost $200 million worth of cryptocurrency from Euler Finance, a DeFi lending platform built on the Ethereum blockchain.
According to Coindesk’s sources, Lazarus hackers sent a message on the blockchain to Euler’s hackers, requesting them to decrypt an encoded message.
However, the message turned out to be a phishing attempt aimed at stealing Euler’s wallet information.
Euler Finance promptly warned its own hacker not to view or interact with the message in any way, reminding them that their computer could also be compromised.
In March, Euler Finance had reported the hack, where unknown individuals exploited a vulnerability in the protocol’s smart contracts and stole $197 million in cryptocurrency through instant loans.
This week, the hackers contacted Euler Finance, indicating their willingness to settle the matter amicably and return the assets that do not belong to them.
Euler’s representatives agreed to discuss the details, hoping to resolve the issue. Previously, Euler had attempted to negotiate with the hackers, requesting the return of 90% of the stolen funds within the first day, failing which they threatened legal consequences.
Euler also announced a reward for any information leading to the hackers’ arrest and the return of funds, after the initial negotiation failed.
One user of the hacked protocol reported losing all their savings, amounting to 78 ETH ($130,000). However, the hackers transferred 100 ETH to the victim’s wallet soon after receiving the message.