According to cybersecurity firm Scam Sniffer, phishing scams are bubbling up on the Ethereum (ETH) block explorer Etherscan.
The firm say Etherscan collects ads from crypto and Web3 ad networks Coinzilla and Persona, which may use ‘insufficient’ filtering that allows exposure to phishing attempts.
Scam Sniffer has previously noted that crypto phishing scams have enabled the theft of more than $295 million in assets by 2023. The cybersecurity firm says phishing websites use a genre of crypto malware known as “wallet drainers,” which trick victims into greenlighting malicious transactions.
According to the company, approximately 324,000 crypto owners fell victim to wallet drainers last year. The largest, Inferno Drainer, stole $81 million in nine months in 2023.
Scam Sniffer notes that these phishing websites drive traffic to their sites via multiple methods, including hacking official X and Discord pages, attacking official project frontends, airdropping tokens, and taking over expired Discord links.
They also pay for search ads on Google and social media platform X and use spam comments.
In a recent analysis, blockchain security firm SlowMist noted that phishing scams account for approximately 80% of replies to tweets from famous crypto projects.
According to the security company, the scammers use a high degree of automation.
“Scammers can buy now [X] accounts. We have seen numerous groups on Telegram involved in selling [X] accounts. These accounts vary in number of followers, number of posts and registration dates, allowing buyers to choose based on their needs. When looking at the group’s history, we found that most of the accounts sold are related to the cryptocurrency industry or are influencer accounts.”
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Generated image: Midjourney