Crypto Phishing Scams Swipe $300M in 2023: Scam Sniffer

Web3 anti-scam platform Scam Sniffer has revealed the alarming volume of cryptocurrency pilfered in 2023 due to increasingly sophisticated phishing scams.

“In the past year, Scam Sniffer has monitored these Wallet Drainers stealing nearly 295 million US dollars in assets from about 324,000 victims,” the report stated.

Crypto Phishing Scams On The Rise

A recent report indicates a monthly increase in crypto phishing scams throughout 2023, with scammers employing increasingly complex methods to target victims.

“Over the past year, phishing activities have steadily increased each month with phishing scammers employing more sophisticated tactics to evade security measures. Scam Sniffer has made findings on “Wallet Drainers” that warrant the industry’s full attention.”

However, in the last year, Scam Sniffer found that Wallet Drainers took about $295 million from around 324,000 victims.

On March 11, scammers took $7 million, mainly because of changes in USDC rates. According to Scam Sniffer, victims got tricked by fake Circle websites.

Total Stolen Crypto Across 2023. Source: Scam Sniffer

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Crypto Community Responds Quickly to Scams

However, while hacking attacks have a widespread impact, the community usually responds quickly, usually within 10-50 minutes.

Meanwhile, Scam Sniffer notes that airdrops, organic traffic, paid advertising, and hijacked Discord links are not as easily detected.

Furthermore, over the last year, Scam Sniffer has examined around 12 million URLs, uncovering nearly 145,000 malicious ones.

The open-source blacklist from Scam Sniffer currently lists almost 100,000 malicious domains.

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