Over $127 million worth of cryptocurrencies were stolen from investors in the third quarter of 2024, with approximately $46 million lost in September.
According to Web3 security firm Scam Sniffer, around 10,800 victims were impacted by phishing attacks in September. The biggest loss was reported on Sept. 28, when a phishing attack using a permit phishing signature drained 12,083 spWETH worth $32.43 million.
Source: Scam Sniffer
In phishing attacks, scammers dupe investors into linking their crypto wallets, such as MetaMask to fraudulent services. Linking crypto wallets to phishing websites allows scammers to withdraw users’ crypto without further authentication.
Phishing attacks target Ethereum investors
Scam Sniffer reported that Ether (ETH) was the biggest target of crypto phishing attacks. Other prominent cryptocurrencies that were lost to phishing scams include Polygon (POL), BNB (BNB) and Optimism (OP), among others.
Overview of phishing attacks in September. Source: Scam Sniffer
In Q3 2024, two major phishing attacks accounted for a total loss of $87 million. According to MistTrack, a crypto tracking and compliance platform, most phishing occurs by clicking on phishing links from fake accounts on X, followed by Google phishing ads.
Related: Vietnam police bust crypto scam ring linked to offshore actors
Considering the growing concerns about phishing attacks, investors are recommended to double-check website URLs and email addresses for official modes of communication.
Check out Cointelegraph’s guide to learn more about phishing attacks and how to avoid them.
Overall crypto hacks cost $753 million in damages in Q3 2024
On the other hand, the total losses from all types of crypto hacks exceeded $753 million in Q3 2024.
According to an Oct. 1 report by cybersecurity firm CertiK, the overall financial damage surged by approximately 9.5%, with a total of $753 million taken from investors across 155 incidents.
Similar to phishing, the Ethereum network suffered the most security incidents, with 86 hacks, scams and exploits costing over $387 million.
Security incidents by chain in Q3 of 2024. Source: CertiK
According to the report, only 4.1% of stolen assets were recovered, down from the 14.4% returned in the previous quarter.
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