Scammers Jump on STEPN Craze, Private Keys at Risk

Multiple phishing websites mimic the STEPN game to steal users’ private keys.

stepn phishing scammers

Numerous websites impersonating the highly popular move-to-earn NFT game ‘STEPN’ have flooded the internet and are targeting unsuspecting users, cybersecurity experts warned earlier this week.

As shared by blockchain security firm Peckfield, the team has detected numerous phishing websites dedicated to mimicking Solana-based STEPN and stealing private keys from their NFT wallets.

Fake STEPN websites contain fraudulent digital wallet plugins that can later be used to steal the private keys from unsuspecting victims, explained experts from Peckfield

According to them, phishing websites trick users into providing private information like their wallet’s private keys or seed phrases, which are required to access funds within the wallet. Such websites usually have a similar, although slightly different domain name than the legit ones, which imposters attempt to mimic.

The fraudsters typically promise giveaways and steal the private data once the unsuspecting victims connect their digital wallets to claim the advertised “free tokens”. However, instead of additional funds, the majority of them find out drained accounts as private keys guarantee fraudsters access to their digital holdings.

Digital wallets like MetaMask, Coinbase Wallet, Phantom Wallet, and Wallet Connect are among the most mimicked for malicious attacks on fake STEPN websites, Peckfield warned.

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The STEPN team has not yet issued any comment on the attacks against its users.

The NFT gaming and fitness app took the cryptocurrency space by storm just a month ago after it offered a new way to generate passive income, simply by being physically active. 

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Since then, the price of STEPN has climbed by nearly 3,600%, and the move-to-earn game has recorded 1.7 million active users over time. 

The sprouting of these scams seems to have done little harm to STEPN’s price in the past 24 hours as the game’s governance token, GMT, climbed up by more than 8% to $3.47 earlier today. STEPN currently sits approximately 11% below its $3.80 all-time high reached on April 20th.

This article is for information purposes only and should not be considered trading or investment advice. Nothing herein shall be construed as financial, legal, or tax advice. Trading forex, cryptocurrencies, and CFDs pose a considerable risk of loss.

Author
Simona Ram

Simona Ram is a senior journalist at DailyCoin, based in Lithuania, who covers the forces and people shaping the Web3 industry and the areas where decentralized crypto assets meet the centralized world. She has experience in business communication within the financial sphere and has a degree in Foreign Languages, which helps her interact effectively with sources from diverse backgrounds. In her free time, Simona enjoys exploring new cultures.