Crypto Scammers Target Etherscan Users with Massive Phishing Ads

Keen observers flag a massive phishing ad campaign on Etherscan.

by Brian Danga. Fact checked by: Ciaran Lawler, Editor: Stefan Trapp

Published: April 8, 2024 │ 9:44 AM GMT

Dark hoodied silhouette of a fisherman infront of a digital black hole. — *Created by Gabor Kovacs from DailyCoin*

Crypto scammers have doubled down on phishing ads.
The ads are now displayed on a popular blockchain explorer.
Keen observers warned users to be wary of the ads.

Keen observers in the crypto community have flagged a massive phishing advertisement campaign targeting users on the Ethereum browser Etherscan.

Etherscan is a free block explorer and analytics platform that allows users to track wallet addresses and access information on Ethereum-based tokens. In January, the platform acquired Solana’s Solscan.io to foster “credibly neutral and equitable” access to blockchain data.

Crypto Phishing Ads Run Rampant on Etherscan

On April 8, X (Twitter) user McBiblets alerted the crypto community to some “unreal” ads on Etherscan, noting that they are wallet drainers. One of the ads identified by the user was for Multichain Yield Optimizer, which is suspected to be linked to around 23 phishing websites.

unreal, some ads on @etherscan are wallet drainers @Plumferno hope you don't mind me stealing your "no clickly"

url: hxxps://aps.bifi-yleld[.]xyz/

site links to ipjsonapi[.]com pic.twitter.com/YM667m0fEM
— McBiblets (@mcbiblets) April 7, 2024

Latching onto the lead, SlowMist’s Chief Information Security Officer fired a warning on X, reminding users to be wary of phishing ads that had seemingly penetrated Etherscan. Web3 anti-scam platform Scam Sniffer echoed the same message, noting that the phishing ads ran beyond Etherscan.

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“Alert: Phishing ads running rampant on Google, Twitter, Bing, & DuckDuckGo are now targeting Etherscan users. Etherscan aggregates ads from platforms like Coinzilla & Persona, where insufficient filtering could lead to exposure to phishing attempts,” Scam Sniffer wrote.

While Etherscan has yet to respond to the alerts, such phishing ads on the platform pose a substantial threat to unsuspecting users, jeopardizing the security of their personal information and digital assets.

In 2023, 324,000 crypto investors fell victim to phishing scams and lost a staggering $295 million. Among the popular wallet drainers employed by phishing scammers include the infamous Angel Drainer, Pink Drainer, Inferno Drainer, and Venom Drainer.