Ah, the eternal waltz of deception πΊ. Threat actors, those masters of disguise, have concocted an elaborate social engineering scheme to swindle crypto users out of their hard-earned digital riches πΈ. According to a report from Darktrace, a cybersecurity company that’s seen its fair share of nefarious plots, the techniques employed by these scoundrels bear an uncanny resemblance to those used by the infamous “Traffer Groups” π€.
The ruse begins with a cleverly crafted illusion. The threat actors pose as representatives from fake startup companies in the trendy industries of AI, gaming, Web3, and social media π±. They use compromised X accounts, Medium articles, and GitHub entries to create an air of legitimacy π. It’s a masquerade ball, and the guests are none the wiser π.
“Each campaign typically starts with a victim being contacted through X messages, Telegram or Discord,” the report reads π±. “A fake employee of the company will contact a victim asking to test out their software in exchange for a cryptocurrency payment” πΈ. The user, enticed by the promise of easy money, downloads the software, and that’s when the real magic happens β¨.
A Cloudflare verification bubble pops up, extracting information about the computer like a digital pickpocket π΅οΈββοΈ. At some point, credentials from cryptocurrency wallets are stolen, leaving the user with a lighter digital wallet and a heavier heart π. Both Windows and Mac users have fallen prey to this scheme, according to the report π€.
This scheme bears an eerie resemblance to the December 2024 attacks involved in the Meeten campaign π. And, of course, there have been other social engineering attacks targeting cryptocurrency users, including those allegedly orchestrated by certain groups associated with North Korea π΅οΈββοΈ.
The Crypto Scam Epidemic of 2025
Crypto scams, frauds, and thefts are spreading like wildfire in the industry, with creative names like the “pig butchering” scams and “four-dollar wrench attacks” π. In some cases, they’ve become more sophisticated, relying on social engineering, hacked X accounts, and insider fraud π€₯.
On July 7, Chinese authorities warned citizens about illegal fundraising schemes that, in part, were built around crypto’s “killer” use case: stablecoins π£. Allegedly, the organizations are often fronts for money laundering and online gambling, and the groups take advantage of the public’s limited knowledge of certain aspects of crypto π€.
CryptoMoon has written about the crypto scams to watch out for in 2025, including malicious browser plugins that purport to be for security, tampered hardware wallets, and social engineering through a fake revoker website π.
On July 8, the US Department of Justice unsealed an indictment against two men for allegedly running a scheme that defrauded investors of over $650 million π. Another scheme has been the fake crypto support scam, which uses psychological tactics to complete the fraud π€₯.
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2025-07-10 23:16