- Notorious crypto wallet drainer Pink Drainer is shutting operations.
- Pink Drainer caused a significant portion of the losses suffered by investors last year.
- Wallet trainers are widely utilized by malicious actors, and several others still plague the industry.
Phishing scams are among the most weaponized forms of fraud in the crypto industry, often perpetrated by crypto wallet drainers who target unsuspecting victims. Last year, nearly 350,000 individuals fell victim to these schemes, collectively incurring losses totaling up to $295 million.
In a surprising turn of events, one of the most notorious drainers is stepping out of the ring.
Pink Drainer Bids Bye to Crypto: Is It True?
In a message flagged by on-chain sleuth ZachXBT on Friday, May 17, 2024, the group behind Pink Drainer, which stole funds to the tune of $85 million from thousands of crypto investors, announced the finalization of its operations, bidding farewell to the industry.
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The message, posted on a Telegram channel, stated that the group would completely wind down its operations following publication and destroy all stored information.
Celebrating its growth, the Drainer expressed gratitude to its supporters, although ironic considering the extensive losses the group inflicted on the industry. Pink Drainer did not depart without offering some “words of wisdom” to its victims.
“If you have enough money right now to financially support yourself, we advise you to hold onto it and take a step back from the grind and enjoy what this world has to offer. Life is too short to get caught in the perpetual cycle of needlessly spending, going broke, and trying to make it back,” the message stated.
While the group asserted the finality of its decision by cautioning, “beware of impersonators; we are not planning on returning in the future,” the crypto industry remains vulnerable to similar threats from other drainers.
Crypto Wallet Drainers Plague
According to the January analysis by Web3 security platform Scam Sniffer, several wallet drainers are responsible for deploying crypto-related malware on phishing websites to grant threat actors unauthorized access to unsuspecting users’ accounts.
In addition to Pink Drainer, which announced its exit, other notorious ones include Inferno Drainer, MS Drainer, Angel Drainer, Monkey Drainer, and Venom Drainer.
Inferno Drainer and Monkey Drainer reportedly orchestrated some of the most notable heists of 2023 before their exposure, siphoning off over $81 million and $16 million over months, respectively.
Many of these malicious groups continue to lurk in the industry’s shadows, becoming adept at circumventing promotion guidelines on trusted social media platforms like Google and Twitter, which enables them to promote malicious URLs to a broader range of investors for selfish gain.
Read more about the ruse of phishing scams this year:
Phishing Ads Target Etherscan Users: Here’s How to Stay Safe
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