- A recent sophisticated phishing attack, known as ‘address poisoning’, has resulted in a loss of over $71 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC).
- The victim unknowingly transferred 1,155 WBTC to a fraudulent address that had the same starting and ending characters as their own.
- Former Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, has previously warned about the deceptive effectiveness of such attacks.
A recent ‘address poisoning’ attack has led to a loss of over $71 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), highlighting the deceptive effectiveness of such phishing techniques in the crypto world.
Details of the Phishing Attack
The incident occurred when the victim created a new address and transferred 0.05 Ether (ETH) to it. The fraudster cleverly created an address with the same starting and ending characters and made a 0 ETH transfer to the victim, causing the transaction to appear in the transaction history. Many wallets hide the middle part of the address with “…” for a cleaner user interface. When the victim wanted to transfer their WBTC to the new address, they accidentally copied the fraudster’s address with the same starting and ending characters. As a result, they transferred 1,155 WBTC, worth $71 million, directly to the fraudster.
Address Poisoning: A Deceptive Phishing Technique
Address poisoning is a type of attack where the hacker creates a wallet address similar to the victim’s through fake address services or address mining and spams the victim with numerous transactions. If the victim accidentally copies the hacker’s fake address, they inadvertently transfer their funds to the hacker instead of their own wallet. Former Binance CEO, Changpeng Zhao, has previously commented on the deceptive effectiveness of such attacks. Following a similar security incident in August 2023, Zhao posted on social media, “Scammers are now so good at producing addresses with the same starting and ending characters that most people only check this when making a crypto transfer”.
Conclusion
This incident serves as a stark reminder of the potential risks and vulnerabilities in the crypto world. It underscores the importance of vigilance and thorough verification when conducting transactions, particularly in an environment where sophisticated phishing techniques such as address poisoning are becoming increasingly prevalent.
