A recent phishing attempt has been discovered on the Ethereum blockchain explorer Etherscan, targeting its users through deceptive advertisements. Community member McBiblets raised awareness about wallet-draining ads on Etherscan, cautioning users against clicking on them as they lead to phishing websites.
Further investigations revealed that these phishing ads were not limited to Etherscan but were also present on well-known phishing websites. Scam Sniffer, a web3 anti-scam platform, identified the spread of these fraudulent advertisements on popular search engines like Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo, as well as on social media platforms.
Scam Sniffer suspects that the phishing campaign was facilitated by advertisement aggregators like Coinzilla and Persona, where inadequate filtering allowed these malicious ads to reach unsuspecting users. The scam involves luring users to fake websites and tricking them into linking their cryptocurrency wallets, enabling scammers to siphon funds without authorization.
Despite suspicions that the cyber phishing group Angel Drainer is behind this ongoing attack on Etherscan users, concrete evidence of their identities remains elusive. The rise in phishing schemes within the industry has caused significant financial losses to crypto users, with Ethereum users being the primary targets.
According to data from Scam Sniffer, phishing attacks have defrauded approximately 97,000 crypto users of $104 million in the first few months of this year, with Ethereum users losing $78 million in assets. Cybercriminals employed tactics like tricking victims into signing malicious phishing signatures to gain unauthorized access to their funds.
Most victims fell prey to false comments on social media platforms, where attackers posed as legitimate cryptocurrency organizations to deceive users into visiting phishing sites. It is crucial for cryptocurrency investors to remain vigilant and cautious while navigating the digital landscape to protect their assets from such fraudulent activities.