A single scammer has reportedly managed to steal round $385,000 value of Ether (ETH) in lower than 24 hours amid a scourge of SIM-swap hacks seemingly focusing on Friend.tech customers.
On Oct. 5, blockchain sleuth ZachXBT reported the identical scammer had pilfered 234 ETH over the previous 24 hours by SIM-swapping 4 completely different Friend.tech customers.
The on-chain motion of crypto belongings was traced again to the identical hacker who drained the accounts of the 4 victims.
The identical scammer profited $385K (234 ETH) in the previous 24 hours off SIM swapping 4 completely different FriendTech customers. pic.twitter.com/03BoBEqGax
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) October 4, 2023
One of many reported victims of the newest chain of SIM-swap assaults posted to X (Twitter) following the assault:
“Received sim swapped. Apparently, dude was capable of do it from an Apple retailer and switched it to an iPhone SE. Don’t purchase my keys, that pockets is compromised.”
X consumer “KingMgugga” reported an assault focusing on them occurring in actual time, posting to X that they had been “getting f—ing sim swapped watching it occur” and asking for assist. In the meantime, one other X consumer, “holycryptoroni,” confirmed they had been equally attacked, lamenting, “I bought swapped sorry.”
Earlier this week, an additional 4 Friend.tech customers claimed to have their accounts drained as a result of a SIM-swap or phishing assault, totaling round 109 ETH stolen.
I used to be simply SIM swapped and robbed of twenty-two ETH through @friendtech
The 34 of my very own keys that I owned had been bought, rugging anybody who held my key, all the opposite keys I owned had been bought, and the remainder of the ETH in my pockets was drained.
In case your Twitter account is doxxed to your actual… pic.twitter.com/5wA86mjYEG
— daren (good friend, good friend) (@darengb) October 3, 2023
Friend.tech permits customers to buy “keys” of people, which grants entry to non-public chat rooms with them.
The SIM-swap rip-off happens when scammers achieve entry to the sufferer’s telephone quantity and use it to amass authentication, which permits them to entry their social media and crypto accounts.
Manifold Buying and selling, a agency constructing instruments for the ecosystem, estimated that $20 million of Friend.tech’s $50 million of complete worth locked could possibly be in danger. It known as for the platform to beef up its account safety measures by enabling two-factor authentication (2FA).
Associated: How easy is a SIM swap attack? Here’s how to prevent one
There have additionally been requires X to implement 2FA safety measures to forestall cell phone numbers from getting leaked following the high-profile hack of Vitalik Buterin’s account in September, which was additionally as a result of a SIM swap assault.
“0xfoobar,” founder and CEO of pockets safety agency Delegate, suggested eradicating telephone numbers from social media accounts.
crypto twitter is sort of a neighborhood the place as soon as a day any individual leaves their entrance door open, will get robbed, and everyone comes collectively to lament the loss, leaving their very own entrance doorways open. as a substitute of retweeting the seventy fifth simswap of the week go take away your telephone from every thing
— foobar (@0xfoobar) October 5, 2023
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