Hackers exploit MicroStrategy social media to orchestrate $440,000 phishing heist

MicroStrategy’s official X (previously Twitter) account was hacked and used to advertise a pretend airdrop of an Ethereum-based MSTR token through the early hours of immediately, Feb. 26.

Blockchain safety agency PeckShield shortly warned that the offending publish contained a phishing hyperlink that redirected to a copycat web site of the Bitcoin-holding firm.

The malicious publish has since been eliminated, however MicroStrategy has but to touch upon the incident as of press time.

MicroStrategy is the most important company holder of BTC, and its holdings lately topped the $10 billion mark. Saylortracker knowledge reveals that the corporate’s 190,000 BTC is at present value $9.7 billion and has an unrealized revenue of $3.7 billion.

$440,000 stolen

On-chain sleuth ZachXBT revealed that the attacker stole about $440,000 from customers who unknowingly clicked on the publish.

Rip-off Sniffer, a Web3 anti-scam platform, reported that almost all funds may need been stolen from one sufferer. In accordance with the agency, the sufferer seemingly “signed a Uniswap Permit2 allow batch signature, which gave a number of token approvals” to the attacker. Some stolen belongings included comparatively unknown tokens like wBAI, wPOKT, and CHEX.

Etherscan knowledge present that the attacker has already begun shifting the stolen funds, leaving 62.97 Ethereum, equal to $195,000, within the exploiter’s handle as of press time.

Phishing assaults prevalent in crypto

Phishing scams are among the many hottest methods malicious actors steal funds from unsuspecting crypto customers.

Crypto scammers typically entice their targets by compromising the social media accounts of well-known initiatives. They promise pretend airdrops by way of phishing hyperlinks, tricking unsuspecting people into granting them entry to their funds. In consequence, victims unknowingly permit attackers to empty their funds by clicking on these hyperlinks.

Rip-off Sniffer revealed that assaults of this nature resulted within the lack of almost $300 million from greater than 320,000 crypto customers all through 2023.