Throughout September 2024, nearly 10,000 crypto phishing victims reportedly lost $46 million to such scams according to a phishing monthly report by ScamSniffer.
Out of these lost crypto, one victim lost $32 million following the execution of a forged permit signature, and another victim lost $1 million by merely copying a contaminated transfer address.
In total, losses due to phishing attacks recorded in Q3 2024 stood at $127 million. The number of victims was at an average level of 11,000 a month. Two cases resulted in losses of $87 million.
How victims are targeted??
Most phishing scams come from fake accounts on X (formerly Twitter), and malicious advertisements on Google. The attackers lure victims into clicking phishing links as if they are legitimate platforms. Once inside, they compromise their wallet or sign transactions that lead to asset loss.
Critical to these is the call to carefulness in the handling of crypto transactions, especially when avoiding phishing or advanced threats. The users should never copy wallet addresses from previous transfer histories; otherwise, this would be compromised.
Always double-check the authenticity of the address and links before signing any transaction or wallet detail.
Precautions
Anti-phishing measures can be done by integrating the expert, ‘s domain and address blocklists to filter out phishing sites from users’ browsers. The best display of phishing signatures can also function as a protection layer for the user.
In this regard, security-aware users ought to crosscheck every transaction with due diligence, especially whenever operating unknown sites or addresses.
What to do after being phished?
If funds are siphoned through a phishing scam, recovery firms like MistTrack and CF Investigators can help retrieve the stolen money. The procedure calls for prompt action to attempt the retrieval of stolen assets.
Phishing schemes are therefore continuously evolving and getting more complicated such that users of cryptos should always be careful with how their assets could become victims of advanced thieves.
