- A high-profile crypto whale suffered a massive blow to their wallet.
- The wallet owner unwittingly approved a transaction, which led to their demise.
- While the hackers ran away with the funds, the wallet owner’s identity remains a mystery.
The crypto industry is swarming with malicious actors looking for their next big score. Even after pulling off heists totaling over half a billion dollars this year, they have yet to slow down in their hunt.
Their latest victim is a high-profile crypto whale, who suffered a colossal blow, providing a stark reminder that scammers still run rampant in the sector.
Record Attack
On September 7, Web3 security firm Scam Sniffer revealed that a crypto whale lost over $24 million worth of liquid-staked Ethereum to phishing scammers, marking one of the largest-ever attacks on an individual in the crypto sphere.
The security report noted that the unfortunate crypto whale had inadvertently granted token approval to the scammers by signing an “increase Allowance” transaction. This unwitting request became the hackers’ gateway to successfully siphoning off 4,851 rETH worth $9 million and 9,579 stETH exceeding $15 million.
Scam Sniffer’s report further detailed that hackers dispersed the stolen funds among multiple addresses, with a considerable amount finding its way to the Fixed Float exchange. The security firm also revealed that this wasn’t the scammer’s first rodeo, linking them to numerous other crypto phishing operations dating back to May 21.
While the crypto whale remains anonymous, their transaction history revealed considerable on-chain activity. Since 2017, the wallet owner has been active as a prominent liquidity provider across major decentralization exchanges, including UniSwap, Aave, and more.
On the Flipside
- On-chain sleuths and the FBI recently linked North Korean hacker group Lazarus to a series of high-profile hacks.
Why This Matters
Phishing scams are becoming a growing concern for the crypto community, especially on Twitter, where verified bots exploit the platform to spread their scams. Taking the necessary precautions to protect oneself has become paramount, and this incident serves as a stark reminder.
Find out how Blockchains can be hacked:
Ways Blockchain Can Be Hacked
Read about the top five hacks that rocked DeFi:
Top 5 Hacks That Rocked DeFi in 2022
