- The TON ecosystem is experiencing a surge in phishing scams.
- Scammers appear to be taking advantage of Telegram’s “free” ecosystem.
- Due diligence is required to avoid falling victim to these types of scams.
2024 has shaped up to be the breakout year of the Telegram-affiliated The Open Network (TON). Driven by the growing popularity of clicker apps embedded as mini-apps within Telegram, the network’s native token has broken into the top ten ranking of crypto assets by market cap, sitting comfortably in the 8th position ahead of Dogecoin.
Unsurprisingly, amid the network’s recent rise, bad actors appear to be honing in, taking advantage of the hype to push phishing scams. In this article, DailyCoin details how these scammers operate and how you can stay safe.
How TON Ecosystem Scammers Operate According to SlowMist
The TON ecosystem is experiencing a surge in phishing scams. Yu “Cos” Xian, founder of prominent crypto security outfit SlowMist, made this warning in an X post on Monday, June 24. According to Xian, scammers leverage Telegram’s “free” nature to spread phishing attacks and drain user wallets.
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“The Telegram ecosystem is too free, and many phishing links (or bot forms) are spread through message groups, airdrops and other deceptive methods,” the SlowMist founder’s translated X post read.
While all TON ecosystem users are at risk in the ongoing phishing scam scourge, SlowMist’s Xian notes that Telegram accounts created with the platform’s “anonymous numbers” feature appear to be the main targets. The anonymous numbers feature allows users to create a temporary number for a short time, typically for privacy and security, to keep certain discussions separate from their main account.
According to Xian, scammers could gain control of your main Telegram account by compromising this temporary account if you fail to use two-factor authentication.
How to Stay Safe From TON Ecosystem Phishing Scams
Due diligence is required to avoid falling victim to these types of scams. As highlighted by SlowMist’s Xian, the phishing scams targeting TON ecosystem users employ methods similar to those of every other phishing scam.
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To get users to divulge personal information or grant malicious wallet permissions, scammers often create a false sense of urgency with messages that usually play on your sense of greed and fear, whether it be the promise of airdrops or a perfomant bot to farm these airdrops. Below are some tips to help you stay safe.
- Use Telegram’s privacy and security features to prevent scammers from adding you to unsolicited channels. As a premium account user, you can also use these settings to prevent unsolicited direct messages.
- Stop to think and research before clicking links and attachments, especially from unknown users.
- Be wary of linking your wallet to new or unknown projects. If you must, using a newly created and empty wallet is often safer.
- Be wary of requests for information that should remain private, such as wallet seed phrases.
On the Flipside
- Phishing scams are not chain agnostic.
- TON’s recent rise does not appear to be affected by the surge in phishing scams, as evidenced by the network’s recent feat of surpassing DOGE in market cap.
Why This Matters
TON is among the fastest-rising networks in the crypto space, with millions of daily users. The recent surge in phishing scams threatens to cost these users their hard-earned assets.
Read this for more on the TON ecosystem:
Toncoin Surpasses Dogecoin Amid Crypto Market Plunge
Stay up to date with the latest in the ETH ETF watch:
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