{"id":18072,"date":"2025-03-19T13:19:18","date_gmt":"2025-03-19T13:19:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=18072"},"modified":"2025-03-19T13:19:18","modified_gmt":"2025-03-19T13:19:18","slug":"sophisticated-crypto-address-poisoning-scams-drain-1-2m-in-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=18072","title":{"rendered":"Sophisticated crypto address poisoning scams drain $1.2M in March"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Victims of address poisoning scams were tricked into willingly sending over $1.2 million worth of funds to scammers, showcasing the problematic rise of cryptocurrency phishing attacks.<\/p>\n

Address poisoning, or wallet poisoning scams<\/a>, involves tricking victims into sending their digital assets to fraudulent addresses belonging to scammers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pig butchering schemes on Ethereum have cost the crypto industry over $1.2 million worth of funds in the nearly three weeks since the beginning of the month, wrote onchain security firm Cyvers in a March 19 X post<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cAttackers send small transactions to victims, mimicking their frequently used wallet addresses. When users copy-paste an address from their transaction history, they might accidentally send funds to the scammer instead.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Source: <\/em>Cyvers Alerts<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Address poisoning scams have been growing, since the beginning of the year, costing the industry over $1.8 million in February, according to Deddy Lavid, co-founder and CEO of Cyvers.<\/p>\n

The growing sophistication of attackers and the lack of pre-transaction security measures are some of the main reasons for the increase, the CEO told Cointelegraph, adding:<\/p>\n

\u201cMore users and institutions are leveraging automated tools for crypto transactions, some of which may not have built-in verification mechanisms to detect poisoned addresses.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While the higher transaction volume due to the crypto bull market is a contributing factor, pre-transaction verification methods may stop a significant amount of phishing attacks, said Lavid, adding:<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike traditional fraud detection, many wallets and platforms lack real-time pre-transaction screening that could flag suspicious addresses before funds are sent.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Related: <\/strong><\/em>August sees 215% rise in crypto phishing, $55M lost in single attack<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Address poisoning scams have previously cost investors tens of millions. In May 2024, an investor sent $71 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin<\/a> to a bait wallet address, falling victim to a wallet poisoning scam. The scammer created a wallet address with similar alphanumeric characters and made a small transaction to the victim\u2019s account.<\/p>\n

However, the attacker returned the $71 million<\/a> days later, after he had an unexpected change of heart due to the growing attention from blockchain investigators.<\/p>\n

Related: <\/strong><\/em>Ledger users targeted by malicious \u2018clear signing\u2019 phishing email<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Phishing scams are a growing problem for the crypto industry<\/h2>\n

Phishing scams are becoming a growing threat to the crypto industry, next to traditional hacks.<\/p>\n

Pig butchering scams are another type of phishing scheme involving prolonged and complex manipulation tactics to trick investors into willingly sending their assets to fraudulent crypto addresses.<\/p>\n

Pig butchering schemes<\/a> on the Ethereum network cost the industry over $5.5 billion across 200,000 identified cases in 2024, according to Cyvers.<\/p>\n

The average grooming period for victims lasts between one and two weeks in 35% of cases, while 10% of scams involve grooming periods of up to three months, according to Cyvers data.<\/p>\n

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Pig butchering victim statistics and grooming periods. Source: Cyvers<\/em><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In an alarming sign, 75% of victims lost over half of their net worth to pig butchering scams. Males aged 30 to 49 are most affected by these attacks.<\/p>\n

Phishing scams were the top crypto security threat of 2024<\/a>, which netted attackers over $1 billion across 296 incidents as the most costly attack vector for the crypto industry.<\/p>\n