On-chain data shows that a crypto whale “0x13e382” lost $24.23 million worth of liquidly staked Ethereum. including 4,851 rETH (worth $8.58 million) and 9,579 stETH ($15.63 million), against phishing scammers on September 6.
Web3 security firm Scam Sniffer revealed that the whale had unknowingly given symbolic approval to the scammers by signing “increaseAllowance” transactions. The firm described the theft as likely “the largest amount ever stolen from a single victim.”
The stolen money initially ended up at two addresses, namely 0x693b72 and 0x4c10a4. However, the scammers did moved some of these assets to the Fixed Float exchange, while the rest are located at three other different addresses.
Particularly Scam Sniffer noticed that one of the addresses associated with this fraudulent activity, specifically 0x4c10a4, is associated with numerous cryptocurrency phishing websites and has been active since May 21.
While the victim’s identity is not made public, their transaction history indicates a seasoned liquidity provider with significant on-chain experience. This wallet has been active since 2017 and currently facilitates over $1.6 million in WBTC/USDT liquidity on the Uniswap V3 platform.
Phishing fraud is rampant on X
The rise of phishing scams on
On-chain researcher ZachXBT specifically expressed this to assure on this issue, drawing the crypto community’s attention to the proliferation of fake verified organizations on the platform.
“Verified organizations were meant to make it harder for scammers, but it has just created a new black market for accounts where we have no way to easily report and remove these accounts,” he said.
This underlines the continued threat of phishing fraud in cryptocurrency, even in a bear market. According to cybersecurity experts at Kaspersky, crypto-related phishing fraud has increased by 40% year-over-year.
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