Phishing victim sends eye-watering $4.5M in USDT to scammer

An unwitting cryptocurrency holder has reportedly fallen victim to an eye-watering $4.46 million phishing scam.

According to data from Etherscan, $4.46 million in Tether (USDT) was withdrawn from a Kraken crypto exchange wallet and eventually sent to an address ending “ACa7.”

Blockchain security firm PeckShield, has labeled the address as being owned by a phishing scammer.

#PeckShieldAlert The address 0x2175…f7D9 got scammed for 4.46M $USDT
Victim’s address: 0x2175c0082d052872501f7fe54e1aC59858aaf7D9
Scammer’s address: 0xAbb07822F471773Ff00b9444308ceEB7cf0dACa7 pic.twitter.com/Ny9CIrkBxw

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) September 21, 2023

Another blockchain scam platform, Scam Sniffer, suggested on Sept. 20 that the funds were sent to an address linked to a “fake Coinone crypto mining exchange.”

someone withdrew $4.46 million from Kraken to a fake Coinone crypto-mining exchange about 1 hour ago.https://t.co/ued55jlWdM pic.twitter.com/tsV5BGDY0O

— Scam Sniffer (@realScamSniffer) September 20, 2023

Scam Sniffer linked to a user-created Dune Analytics dashboard, suggesting attacks of this nature have seen scammers steal approximately $337.1 million USDT in total, impacting as many as 21,953 individuals.

@tayvano’s Dune Analytics dashboard on USDT Approval Scams. Source: Dune Analytics.

Related: Crypto whale loses $24M in staked Ethereum to phishing attack

The Global Anti-Scam organization says this type of approval mining scam usually tricks victims into authorizing unlimited withdrawals from their cryptocurrency wallet.

“When you create a self-custody crypto wallet […] you obtain a “private key” that is safeguarded through encryption. However, the fraudsters do not need your seed phrase,” GASO said, explaining on its website that when a victim clicks to partake in the fake mining pool, they’re clicking on a button that will request a $10 to $50 network fee in Ether (ETH).

While it seems reasonable, GASO suggests it is part of to trick the user:

“This is merely a front to obtain your digitally signed authorization, allowing unlimited access to your wallet via the USDT smart contract.”

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