- A crypto investor lost $3M in USDt by signing a malicious transaction in a phishing scam.
- Phishing attacks, exploiting human errors, caused over $1B in losses across 296 incidents in 2024.
- Binance’s new algorithm detected 15M poisoned addresses to combat rising phishing scams.
A crypto investor lost $3 million in USDt after falling for a phishing scam, signing a malicious blockchain transaction without checking the contract address.
Blockchain analytics platform Lookonchain shared the news on X, warning, “One wrong click can drain your wallet. Never sign a transaction you don’t fully understand.” The victim likely checked only the first and last characters of the wallet address, missing differences in the middle, a common trick used by scammers.
Phishing Scams Dominate 2024 Crypto Losses
Phishing attacks, where scammers use fake links to steal private keys, were the top security threat in 2024, costing over $1 billion across 296 incidents, according to CertiK’s Web3 security report.
At least three of these attacks caused losses over $100 million.Another investor lost $900,000 in a similar scam, signing a malicious transaction 458 days earlier.
Back in May, a scammer stole $71 million in a wallet poisoning scheme but gave it back after blockchain investigators turned up the heat. These days, crooks are focusing less on cracking code and more on tricking people, which is tougher to stop.
Binance is hitting back hard, launching an algorithm that’s caught nearly 15 million dodgy addresses already. With phishing scams on the rise, experts are telling crypto users to carefully check wallet addresses, steer clear of suspicious links, and stay vigilant to keep their money safe.
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