CEO of Polychain Capital Falls Victim to Account Hack, Phishing Scam Unleashed
Summary:
Polychain Capital's CEO, Olaf Carlson-Wee's X account has been hacked, leading to the circulation of phishing links posing as an airdrop website. Polychain has advised users to avoid interaction with Carlson-Wee's handle until further notice. The hacker used the account to falsely promote a "$PCHAIN" token airdrop. The incident closely mirrors previous hacking episodes that hit crypto venture firm Blockchain Capital and Compound Finance.
The CEO and founder of cryptocurrency-focused venture capital firm, Polychain Capital, Olaf Carlson-Wee, has fallen victim to a cybersecurity breach, resulting in phishing links being published from his X account in a counterfeit airdrop website guise. Polychain Capital urged users of X to steer clear from any interaction with Carlson-Wee's profile until further intimation, as stated in a notice issued on January 4.
The hacker exploiting Carlson-Wee's account promoted a sham "$PCHAIN" token airdrop in a post on X at 8:20 PM UTC on January 4. Followers were lured into participating by clicking on a link with a false promise of early token distribution. A link directing to a fake Polychain-related website was also inserted in the post. Phishing fraudsters habitually employ malicious links to dupe users into executing harmful transactions that deplete crypto wallets.
The cybercriminal has made several posts after initiating the hack. As of now, the original post has been viewed by approximately 41,000 X users.
Scam Sniffer, a security platform, revealed in its latest report that in 2023, cryptocurrency phishing schemes hoodwinked 324,000 individuals resulting in nearly $300 million losses. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin's X account fell prey to a similar scam in September, with the hacker managing to siphon off $691,000 from the victims who fell for a spurious link showcasing a free NFT.
Blockchain Capital, another venture capital firm, and the decentralized finance protocol, Compound Finance, were the victims of similar attacks in August and December, respectively. Both events involved a lure of token claims for users.
Polychain Capital, a San-Francisco-based enterprise founded in 2016, had assets totalling $2.6 billion under its ambit as of July 2023. The investment firm specialises in actively managed portfolios accommodating a variety of blockchain assets.
Published At
1/5/2024 2:59:17 AM
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