(Dinarian Note: Stay vigilant out there, these thieves are getting good. Some of the websites and emails look extremely professional these days. They are using AI software to duplicate websites in under 5 minutes, and they just change the links. I always advise hovering your mouse over any email links, and make sure you recognize the web address before clicking. Or by avoiding email links all together and simply use your browser to go directly to the known saved website you have stored in your favorites.)
When it comes to cryptocurrency-related cyberattacks, bad actors have seemingly reduced the use of traditional financial threats like desktop and mobile banking malware, shifting their focus to phishing.
Russian cybersecurity and anti-virus provider Kaspersky revealed that cryptocurrency phishing attacks witnessed a 40% year-on-year increase in 2022. The company detected 5,040,520 crypto phishing attacks in the year, compared with 3,596,437 in 2021.
A typical phishing attack involves reaching out to investors through fake websites and communication channels that mimic the official companies. Users are then prompted to share personal information such as private keys, which ultimately provides attackers unwarranted access to crypto wallets and assets.
While Kaspersky could not predict if the trend would increase in 2023, phishing attacks continue the momentum in 2023. Most recently, in March, hardware cryptocurrency wallet provider Trezor issued a warning against attempts to steal users’ crypto by tricking investors into entering their recovery phrase on a fake Trezor site.
In a survey conducted by Kaspersky in 2022, one out of seven respondents admitted to being affected by cryptocurrency phishing. While phishing attacks predominantly involve giveaway scams or fake wallet phishing pages, attackers continue to evolve their strategies.
According to Kaspersky, “crypto still remains a symbol of getting rich quick with minimal effort,” which attracts scammers to innovate their techniques and stories to lure in unwary crypto investors.
Arbitrum investors were recently exposed to a phishing link via its official Discord server. A hacker reportedly hacked into the Discord account of one of Arbitrum’s developers, which was then used to share a fake announcement with a phishing link.
Cointelegraph accessed the phishing link to find that it redirects users to a blank website with the text “Astaghfirullah,” which translates to “I seek forgiveness in God.“ According to Wiktionary, the term can also be used to express disbelief or disapproval.
