$71 Million Stolen in Crypto Wallet Scam; Illicit Funds On the Move
Summary:
Cryptocurrency worth $71 million, stolen via a wallet impersonation scam, has begun to move after remaining static for six days. The victim unknowingly transferred 97% of his total crypto assets to a fraudulent wallet. The stolen amount was converted to Ether (ETH) to facilitate easier movement through confidential protocols. The anonymous perpetrator made use of around 400 digital wallets to disperse the stolen funds and reduce traceability. A new type of scam, affecting ERC-2612 compliant tokens, allows culprits to empty users' digital wallets without transaction approval.
Recently, cryptocurrency worth $71 million that was illicitly obtained through a digit wallet scam has been shifted following a static period of six days. The unfortunate event occurred on May 3, when a trader was deceived into transferring an amount of $71 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) to a fraudulent wallet address. The swindler cleverly crafted an address that almost mirrored the trader's, with identical beginning and ending characters, and succeeded in fooling the trader into verifying the faux address and making the large-scale transfer, accounting for 97% of the victim's total crypto assets.
Cyber thieves commonly proceed to convert the stolen cryptocurrency into Ether (ETH), thus facilitating easier movement through confidential protocols, such as Tornado Cash. This was the exact course of action taken in this case as well. Shortly after the scam, the 1,155 WBTC was swiftly converted into approximately 23,000 ETH and was left untouched for six days in the scammer's wallet. The blockchain probing agency, PeckShield, detected the laundered funds being transferred in parts and several wallets on May 8.
The scam artist chose to use about 400 digital wallets to disperse the stolen funds, thus lessening the possibility of the crime being traced directly back to them. Ultimately, the nefarious gain ended up filling over 150 different wallets but can still be traced back to the anonymous perpetrator. It is noteworthy that such shady activities are usually conducted during bullish markets in the world of cryptocurrency.
In related news, a novel scam technique enables culprits to empty users' digital wallets without transaction approval. This scheme primarily works on ERC-2612 compliant tokens that permit "gas-less" transfers, meaning transfers that don't require ETH to be held in the wallet. To facilitate these unapproved transactions, however, users are misled into endorsing a message. This malicious operation was conducted by a Telegram forum which pretended to be the Collab.Land Telegram validation system, according to Cointelegraph's investigations.
Published At
5/8/2024 11:07:53 AM
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