An unfortunate incident recently occurred in the cryptocurrency market, where an unidentified participant fell victim to a phishing scam, resulting in a loss of over $674,000 in USDC.
The incident was identified by blockchain security platform PeckShield, who shared the details in a recent post on X. According to on-chain data from the Ethereum blockchain explorer Etherscan, the scammers were able to drain 674,962 USDC from the victim’s wallets to two distinct addresses.
After receiving the stolen funds, the scammers moved the USDC to Ox, a blockchain protocol for P2P asset exchange. They then exchanged the USDC for 160.32 Ethereum tokens and transferred a portion to a Zerion wallet.
The scammers have been actively draining the victim’s address since March 1, invoking smart contract functions to transfer assets to addresses under their control. Over 400 transactions have been executed in the past five days, involving various tokens including AstraAI and NOIA.
To prevent further losses, the victim must revoke any permissions granted to the scammers. The crypto community has seen a rise in phishing scams targeting unsuspecting investors, with scammers using tactics like hacking social media accounts and sending fake emails to lure victims.
In a related incident, victims lost $440,000 in an airdrop scam after scammers compromised a MicroStrategy X account to promote the scheme. Scam Sniffer reported that phishing scams caused losses of over $300 million in the past year, affecting up to 320,000 users.
It is crucial for investors to remain vigilant and take necessary precautions to protect their assets from such malicious activities in the cryptocurrency space. Stay informed and stay safe.