ABMedia detective ZachXBT revealed on 12/24 on Twitter that a hacker impersonating the official Twitter account sent out false copyright infringement notices to lure victims into a phishing site, then used the victims' accounts to promote meme coin scams, successfully stealing nearly $500,000 over the past month.
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ToggleImpersonating the official Twitter account to send notices, users had their passwords stolen
ZachXBT said that over the course of nearly a month from 11/26 to 12/24, the hacker impersonated the official Twitter account and sent out "copyright infringement notices" to lure victims to a phishing site, further obtaining the victims' Twitter account passwords, two-factor authentication (2FA) and other information, ultimately taking control of the accounts.
The investigation shows that 15 of the affected accounts are related to cryptocurrencies, including the popular live streaming platform Kick, the SocialFi platform The Arena, and other hot accounts with over 200,000 followers. The hacker used these accounts to post phishing posts promoting fake meme coins, further attracting interested users, and stole nearly $500,000 from victims in just one month.
Hackers use varied methods, funds laundered across chains
ZachXBT pointed out that the hackers mainly used 6 addresses to carry out the fraud, and then transferred the stolen funds between the Solana and Ethereum chains, trying to obscure the illicit source of the funds and increase the difficulty of tracing.
Many popular accounts that have been impersonated, such as the cross-chain protocol Neutron, have already acknowledged being impersonated and used for fraud.
Crypto fraud rampant, $2.2 billion stolen this year
According to media reports, crypto-related phishing scam losses exceeded $20.2 million in October, but decreased by 53% to $9.3 million in November. However, with the year-end holidays approaching, fraud activities seem to be on the rise again.
According to a previous report by ABMedia, there have been 303 major hacking incidents so far in 2024, with losses reaching $2.2 billion, a 21% increase over last year. North Korean hackers alone have stolen over $1.3 billion, double the amount stolen in 2023 and accounting for 61% of the global hacker theft total in 2024. Users still need to strengthen their crisis awareness and think carefully before clicking on links from unknown sources.
Risk Warning
Cryptocurrency investment is highly risky, and its price may fluctuate dramatically, and you may lose your entire principal. Please carefully evaluate the risks.
