According to the blockchain analysis platform Lookonchain, a crypto trader suffered a phishing attack on Wednesday that stole more than 180 million BEAM tokens and affected the token’s price.
180 million BEAM tokens stolen
In an X (former Twitter) post, Lookonchain revealed a new crypto scam that had occurred on February 15. As the analytics platform explained, the address 0x83664B8a83b9845Ac7b177DF86d0F5BF3b7739AD, under the name ‘Kirilm.eth’, suffered a phishing attack that led to the theft. of millions of BEAM tokens.
kirilm.eth was attacked by phishing and lost 180.25 million $BEAM($5.14 million) 13 hours ago.
The scammer quickly sold the 180.25M $BEAM for 1,629 $ETH($4.6 million), which caused the price of $BEAM decrease by ~7%.https://t.co/x8epiNx4Qa pic.twitter.com/ytcfYib2Kg
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 16, 2024
Users apparently identified the victim as a crypto trader named Kirill Marinov. According to the information provided, the victim lost 180.25 million BEAM tokens, worth approximately $5.14 million, to an account named ‘Fake_Phishing291038’.
Shortly after the theft, the scammer’s address liquidated the total number of stolen BEAM tokens and exchanged them for 1,629 ETH worth approximately $4.6 million.
According to to the Web3 anti-scam platform Scam Sniffer, the victim signed a ‘increase fee’ transaction that gave the scammer access to the tokens. Moreover, the. X-post indicated that the token issuer is a Safe Wallet address.
However, this write-up has not revealed any further details about the victim, the exact tactics used by the scammer and their identity.
Phishing fraud is among the most popular tactics for crypto-related crimes. Scammers take advantage of the naivety of inexperienced investors and the mistakes of more experienced traders to gain access to the funds.
The scam tactics include various ways to trick the victims into revealing their private keys or login credentials to gain access to the victim’s wallet. Because of this, experts urge all crypto investors must remain alert and take necessary measures to keep their assets safe.
BEAM Price responds to the crypto heist
The BEAM token serves as the native crypto asset for the Beam network. After the heist and subsequent exchange to ETH, the token’s price dropped, from the $0.030 price level to the $0.028 range.
Beam Network is a gaming network powered by the Merit Circle DAO. The ecosystem brings developers and gamers together to further develop the gaming industry. According to the Beam team: “At its core, Beam strives to create harmony between gamers and developers.
It’s not just about gaming; it’s about ownership, empowerment and global community. Every feature and tool is a step toward this visionary future.”
At the time of writing, the token is trading at $0.027, which represents a decline of 2.4% in the past hour and a decline of 9.3% from its trading price in the previous 24 hours. According to According to CoinMarketCap data, the token’s daily trading volume has fallen 25.7% over the past 24 hours and ranks at number 104 in this metric with $61.4 million.
Despite the negative price reaction after the scam, BEAM price still registered an increase of 32.9% over the past 7 days. Likewise, BEAM’s confidence score in the spot markets remains unaffected, per Coin gecko Facts.
BEAM price is trading at $0.0276 in the hourly chart. Source: BEAMUSDT on Tradingview.com
Featured image from Unsplash.com, chart from Tradingview.com
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