The TRON network accounted for 45% of all illicit volume in 2023, according to data released by analysts at blockchain forensics firm TRM Labs. TRM Labs released a report titled “The Illicit Crypto Economy” on Wednesday shedding light on the key trends in 2023 related to illicit activities and funds in the crypto space. TRON...Read More
A 46-year-old housewife in Hong Kong has reported losses of 7.1 million Hong Kong dollars ($908,000) after investing in a fraudulent crypto investment platform. According to a report by the South China Morning Post, people familiar with the matter revealed that the woman did not realize she had been scammed until a year after the...Read More
X (formerly known as Twitter) has been a popular hook for scammers for over a decade now. However, the tactics employed in these schemes continuously evolve. What’s concerning is that many victims are still falling for scams because of misleading comments made by fake X accounts, leading them to phishing websites. X Fakes Fuel Phishing...Read More
In February, the crypto industry saw losses totaling approximately $160 million due to exploits, hacks, and scams. The figures represented a slight dip from January despite an increase in prices. According to the latest update by CertiK, exit scams claimed the lion’s share at $58.2 million, followed by exploits at $101 million. Phishing accounted for...Read More
The Blast network’s layer 2 project, RiskOnBlast, has been scrutinized due to suspicions of a potential rug pull scam surfacing. The incident has left investors reeling from significant losses estimated at around 420 Ether (ETH), equivalent to approximately $1.25 million at current market rates. Rug Pull Suspicions The incident began when community members noticed the...Read More
South Korea has witnessed a surge in crypto trading, particularly following a market recovery. Correspondingly, authorities in the country received almost 49% more alerts of potentially suspicious transactions from crypto service providers in 2023 compared to the previous year. A paper from the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) revealed that South Korea logged 16,076 instances of...Read More
Scammers have taken their tactics to the next level and are now using real funds in address poisoning attacks. A recent incident where a victim lost nearly $50k was brought to light through a post on X by Cyvers Alerts, a platform dedicated to raising awareness about online threats. Crypto Users Targeted with Real ETH...Read More
According to Scam Sniffer, scammers stole $55 million worth of cryptocurrency in January alone and set up more than 11,000 phishing websites. Notably, most of these thefts occurred on the Ethereum mainnet, with Arbitrum, BNB, Optimism, and Polygon closely behind. Crypto Phishing Attacks Surged in January In a recent Feb. 9 thread on X, Scam...Read More
Colin Murphy – an associate of Canada’s notorious “Crypto King” Aiden Pleterski – was sentenced to 5 months in prison on Friday for contempt of court in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh O’Connell found Murphy in contempt for refusing to surrender his iPhone and for deleting its data when a search warrant...Read More
A doctored clip of Australian mining magnate and businessman Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest on Facebook represents the newest addition to a series of deepfakes hijacking images of figures in deceptive advertisements, eroding trust in the media. Cybersecurity firm Cybertrace flagged the video Forrest, which appears to be promoting a fake crypto trading platform. Deepfake Deception The...Read More
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has brought charges against three people for defrauding investors of nearly $2 billion. According to the DOJ, the individuals promoted a fraudulent cryptocurrency investment program that promised investors high returns. A $1.89 Billion Crypto Scam In a press release on Jan. 29, 2024, the DOJ said that Sam Lee,...Read More
In the face of a rising tide of scams and exploits, even CertiK, a security firm that specializes in comprehensive security for blockchains, smart contracts, and Web3, is not immune. Scammers are targeting users by fraudulently latching on the company’s brand, which is dedicated to ensuring the security of digital assets and decentralized technologies. In...Read More
Following a previous denial by an Estonian circuit court, the local government has, once again, approved the extradition of two of its citizens suspected of cryptocurrency fraud to the United States. The suspects are accused of running a fake crypto service that defrauded unsuspecting victims of over $500 million. According to local news outlet Postimees,...Read More
Manta Network (MANTA), a blockchain project aiming to expand its reach in the Asian market, has found itself entangled in a controversy surrounding allegations of money laundering following its recent listing on the South Korean exchange Bithumb. The controversy emerged when DeFi enthusiast Definalist took to Twitter, suggesting potential misconduct by Manta Network on the...Read More
Michael Saylor revealed an alarming trend involving the proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) generated deepfake videos featuring him. Saylor disclosed that his team is tirelessly working to remove approximately 80 such fake videos daily, most aimed at promoting various Bitcoin scams. Deepfake Videos Promoting Bitcoin Scams ⚠️ Warning ⚠️ There is no risk-free way to...Read More
CertiK’s latest report reveals a noteworthy decline in cryptocurrency security incidents in 2023. Total losses came down to $1.84 billion across 751 events, marking a 51% decrease from 2022. Moreover. each incident averaged $2.45 million in losses, with the top ten contributing $1.11 billion. Interestingly, the blockchain security firm found that the median loss per...Read More
ACE Exchange, one of Taiwan’s largest crypto trading platforms, is reportedly under investigation for alleged fraudulent activities, with local authorities estimating the value of the fraud to be over $32 million. However, the company clarified that its employees were not involved in the alleged fraud case. ACE Exchange Founder Arrested for Fraud Allegations According to...Read More
Prominent blockchain security firm CertiK’s X account (previously Twitter) was hacked on January 5th. The compromised account, with a follower count of 342,900, stole crypto from users’ wallets through carefully disguised phishing links. One of the links posted falsely asserted that a vulnerability had been identified in Uniswap’s router contract. The misleading tweet urged users...Read More
Wallet drainers are a type of scam that generally operates by cloning a legitimate website, fooling the target into providing their crypto wallet credentials, and then executing a smart contract that sends the users’ funds to bad actors. 🚨1/ Alert: A ‘Wallet Drainer’ has been linked to phishing campaigns on Google search and X ads,...Read More
According to a Financial Times report, Meta, the American social media conglomerate, has publicly apologized to Qatari billionaire Wissam Al Mana, committing to enhanced protective measures on its platform following a prolonged legal battle. The apology comes after Al Mana’s image was wrongfully used in cryptocurrency scam advertisements on Facebook. Wissam Al Mana Wins Legal...Read More
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted two men for perpetrating a crypto Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors of approximately $25 million. According to a press release from the Justice Department, 51-year-old David Gilbert Saffron of Australia and 52-year-old Vincent Anthony Mazzotta Jr. of California operated a fraudulent crypto investment scheme that lured...Read More
The United States Justice Department (DOJ) has charged four people for their alleged roles in laundering millions of dollars from cryptocurrency investment scams. According to a press release from the DOJ, the four individuals, Lu Zhang of Alhambra, California, Justin Walker of Cypress, California, Hailong Zhu of Naperville, Illinois, and Joseph Wong of Rosemead, California,...Read More
The IRS Criminal Investigation (CI) has disclosed its top 10 cases of 2023, representing the most significant incidents of the previous year. CI Chief Jim Lee highlighted that billions of dollars in fraud, victims across the globe, and criminals are all about personal gain. In a statement to CryptoPotato, Lee said that the CI investigation...Read More
A phishing scam targeting the Stargate Snapshot platform resulted in significant financial losses. A Discord Moderator of LayerZero, the underlying network of Stargate, revealed that a scammer effectively carried out a deceptive proposal vote, utilizing a phishing link to manipulate users into staking STG tokens. Scammer Misleads Token Holders in Fake Proposal Vote The scam...Read More
A circuit court in Estonia overturned a previous ruling allowing the extradition of two Estonian citizens charged with cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering to the United States. According to the court, the Estonian government did not consider certain circumstances before agreeing to extradite the individuals involved in the case. New Court Ruling Cancels Extradition Approval...Read More
Following the JPEX fiasco, it appears that another crypto trading platform called Hounax reportedly scammed some Hong Kong investors, causing them to lose over $15 million. Meanwhile, some of the victims believe that the city-state regulator’s warning about the platform came after they already locked their money in Hounax. Hounax Crypto Exchange Allegedly Disappears With...Read More
Electric Capital, a prominent venture capital firm, has warned about a sophisticated scam operation targeting potential investors. Avichal Garg, Co-Founder and General Partner of Electric Capital, revealed in a recent post the alarming tactics being employed by scammers. Electric Capital Exposes Sophisticated Crypto Scam According to Garg, the fraudsters are masquerading as representatives of Electric...Read More
Inferno Drainer, one of the most widely used wallet-draining services in recent memory, has announced that it will be ceasing operations effective immediately. Over $70 Million Stolen While Active Earlier this spring, the first mentions of the Inferno drainer – a service that “helped” bad actors steal funds out of other wallets in exchange for...Read More
United States prosecutors arrested three people for allegedly stealing $10 million from financial institutions and laundering the stolen funds using cryptocurrency exchanges. The individuals could each get up to over 80 years in prison if found guilty of the allegations. Defrauding Banks and Channeling Proceeds to Crypto Exchanges A press release by the U.S. Attorney’s...Read More
Last year, French national Michel Aurelien, who was inspired by the BAYC collections’ success, founded the Mutant Ape variation. Although his own version was in no way endorsed or approved by YugaLabs, it nonetheless became somewhat popular in just a few months. Misleading From The Start Unfortunately for investors of the project – which has...Read More
