In the first half of 2024, cryptocurrency scams on Ethereum Virtual Machines (EVM) chains resulted in $314 million in losses, as per a latest report published by Scam Sniffer, a blockchain research firm.
As per the report, the H1 2024 data showed a 6.44% increase in losses due to scams when compared to the same period in 2023.
The report further stated that out of the total stolen funds, $58 million were lost by a total 20 victims. Among them, the single biggest heist was against a person who lost $11 million through a lone attack. As per researchers, the alleged scammers used common phishing signatures such as Permit, IncreaseAllowance, and Uniswap Permit2, which let them gain full control of victims’ funds without asking for more permissions.
The most significant thefts involved assets in staking, restaking, Aave collateral, and Pendle tokens. Phishing comments from impersonated accounts on social media platforms like X lured victims to fraudulent sites. Once on these sites, victims were tricked into making seemingly legitimate transactions from their non-custodial wallets, resulting in unauthorized fund access.
Scam Sniffer’s parent company, SlowMist, reported freezing approximately $20.66 million in stolen funds across 13 platforms during Q2 2024. Â
Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange, reported an alarming increase in deepfake-related crypto fraud. Losses from these scams have exceeded $79.1 billion since 2022, with a 245% increase in 2024 alone. Bitget warns that quarterly losses from deepfake use could reach $10 billion by 2025, predicting that 2024 will conclude with $25.13 billion in losses from such crimes.
Also Read: BtcTurk Exchange Hit by Cyberattack, Binance Freezes $5.3m of Stolen Token
