Reports show that the recent phishing attack through Buterin’s account resulted in almost $700k loss in digital assets. Ethereum co-founder, Vitalik Buterin was a victim of an X (formerly Twitter) hack over the weekend. The report was confirmed by his father Dmitriy Buterin.
Once the perpetrators gained control of the account, they promoted a phishing link with the intent to steal cryptocurrencies and NFTs of unsuspecting victims who interacted with it.
Sadly, more than $690,000 worth of digital assets were drained from victims’ accounts according to an on-chain detective and rug-pull survivor, ZachXBT.
Update: $691k drained (another 33% in drainer fee address) pic.twitter.com/AVIShqDlMU
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— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) September 9, 2023
The hackers lured victims by claiming to celebrate “Proto-Danksharding coming to Ethereum.“ Attached to the post was a deceptive link to mint a commemorative NFT. As always, the hackers imposed a sense of urgency claiming that the collection is only free for the next 24 hours.
Urgency is one of the emotional tactics hackers use to lure their victims. They use words like “quick,” and “limited offer” to convince unsuspecting individuals to interact with the links.
One notable victim of the hack was Bok Khoo – an Ethereum developer. Khoo’s CryptoPunk NFT, worth 153 ETH (approximately $250,000) was among the long list of digital assets stolen. He posted a warning on his X account informing his followers about the hack and urging them not to interact with the link.
It was most likely a SIM swap hack
Reacting to the situation, a user on X urged the Ethereum co-founder to take accountability and subsequently compensate those affected.
“The only way this isn’t negligence on Vitalik’s part is if someone at @x internally compromised the account, or if he was coerced in person by a criminal who threatened violence.” […] “you have more than enough personal wealth to make affected users whole. If the founder of any other tradfi platform posted links that resulted in fraud, that platform would be obligated to do the same, or risk facing a class action lawsuit” he said
Furthermore, the user claimed that the phishing attack on Buterin’s account was most likely done through a SIM swap hack. For one thing, the hackers take control of a victim’s phone number, consequently gaining access to their bank accounts, credit cards, or crypto accounts.
However, ZachXBT did not agree with the user, stressing that it is not yet confirmed it was a SIM swap hack, and that Vitalik Buterin is a “big enough target” for insider manipulation.
Read More:
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- Scamfari: Protecting the Cryptocurrency Community from Fraudsters
- Curve Finance Recovers $5.4M Through White Hat Hacker
- Bitcoin Scams: 5 Ways To Avoid Them
- Common NFT Scams and 8 Ways To Avoid Them
Victor Swaezy
Victor Swaezy is a crypto-journalist with more than 3 years of experience in covering blockchain technology and digital currencies news. Known for his comprehensive reporting, Victor has contributed to leading industry publications such as Coinfomania and Crypto News Guru, providing market participants with the required knowledge to make informed decisions. When he is not working, he loves to watch movies and have a good time.