MailerLite Confirms Breach: Phishing Scam Drains $3.3M from Web3 Companies' Subscribers
Summary:
Email marketing firm, MailerLite, has confirmed that hackers breached accounts of notable Web3 companies to execute phishing email scams, resulting in an estimated loss of $3.3 million from subscribers. The cyberattack, carried out through a social engineering strategy targeting a customer support staff, allowed the attackers to gain access to MailerLite's internal admin panel and impersonate cryptocurrency-related accounts. While 117 accounts were accessed, a smaller number was exploited for phishing. The company warned that client and subscriber data were affected. Blockchain analytics platform Nansen estimated the easily convertible stolen funds to be around $700,000 after subtracting less liquid XBANKING tokens.
MailerLite, an email marketing company, has verified that cybercriminals breached major Web3 businesses' accounts to execute phishing email frauds, resulting in an approximate loss of $3.3 million from subscribers. Web3 firms including Cointelegraph were targeted in the January 23rd attack, with malicious, wallet-draining software-infested links dispatched from the official accounts of WalletConnect, Token Terminal, and De.Fi.
A few hours following the email distribution to subscribers, MailerLite disclosed the mechanics of its system breach—a social engineering attack aimed at a customer support staff. According to MailerLite, the staff member was tricked into clicking on an image that led to a counterfeit Google sign-in page while attending to a client's query through their support portal. The staff unknowingly authorized access, granting the hackers entry into MailerLite’s internal administrative panel. The cybercriminals expanded their control by resetting a particular user's password through the admin panel.
The cybercriminals specifically targeted cryptocurrency-themed accounts, impersonating user accounts to exploit them. It was revealed by MailerLite that the hackers accessed 117 accounts, yet only a smaller portion was utilized for phishing operations. The firm forewarned that customer and subscriber data, including names, email addresses, and personal details uploaded to MailerLite, were impacted.
Nansen, a blockchain analytics platform, helped Cointelegraph estimate the taken funds' value. Nansen's research division reported that the primary phishing wallet accounted for $3.3 million in total cash inflows, traced through token flows on Nansen-backed blockchains. Of that total, XBANKING tokens represented $2.6 million, which seemed to be less liquid and traded exclusively on the LATOKEN exchange. They cautioned that converting the XBANKING tokens, which account for 80% of the XBANKING token's fully diluted valuation, could be difficult.
Nansen calculated the sum of more easily convertible stolen funds to be approximately $700,000 after deducting XBANKING tokens from the total. Nansen's figures were consistent with those mentioned in a detailed Reddit thread by an anonymous user about the total stolen funds from this incident that also referred to XB tokens.
The transfer of stolen tokens was concealed by the fraudsters using the privacy protocol Railgun, as per Nansen and the Reddit submission. This system, based on-chain for Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, and Arbitrum, applies Zero-Knowledge cryptography, enabling the private usage of smart contracts and decentralized finance protocols – DeFi.
Published At
1/24/2024 12:08:27 PM
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