Nearly $47 million was stolen from approximately 57,000 crypto users by criminals who use phishing scams to lure victims. The Scam Sniffer data highlights that most of the thefts occurred on the Ethereum chain, with ERC-20 tokens being the most targeted. Unlike in January, the number of victims who lost digital funds exceeding $1 million was 75% lower in February.
Phishing Scammers Stole $47 Million From 57,000 Victims in February Alone — Report
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According to the latest report by the anti-scam platform Scam Sniffer, just over 57,000 crypto users lost nearly $47 million to phishing scams in February alone. The report data reveals that the phishing scammers’ February 15 haul of just over $6 million was their most successful day and the worst for crypto users that month.
🧵 [4/6] Most victims were lured to phishing websites through phishing comments from impersonated Twitter accounts. pic.twitter.com/F8O8j01aDw
— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) March 10, 2024
However, the data also indicates that, unlike in January, the number of victims who lost digital funds exceeding $1 million was 75% lower in February. Despite being warned repeatedly, many of the phishing victims still fell prey to social media accounts impersonating popular Web3 projects, the Scam Sniffer report revealed.
In terms of distribution, the Scam Sniffer data highlights that most of the thefts occurred on the Ethereum chain, with ERC-20 tokens being the most targeted.
“In the thefts, Ethereum mainnet accounts for 78% of the total. The main assets stolen are ERC20 tokens, accounting for 86%. Most of the thefts of all ERC20 tokens were due to assets being stolen as a result of signing phishing signatures such as Permit, Increase Allowance, and Uniswap Permit2,” the report explained.
The data shows that Arbitrum, which witnessed users losing digital assets worth nearly $3.5 million, is the chain with the second-largest loss. The BNB chain occupies third place, experiencing losses of just $2.5 million, while Polygon and Optimism round out the top five, with losses of approximately $1.8 million and $1.4 million, respectively.
Meanwhile, the report reveals that the phishing criminals would then use safe or so-called account abstraction wallets as their token approval spenders. These wallets allow them to siphon off users’ funds.
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