A trader whose identity remains unknown has suffered a staggering loss of $68 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) as a result of falling victim to an address-poisoning scam. The incident was brought to light by on-chain security firm Cyvers in a post on May 3. The scam involved the technique of address poisoning, also known as address spoofing, which takes advantage of the carelessness and haste of traders during transactions. Scammers trick victims into unknowingly sending their digital assets to fraudulent addresses owned by the scammers.
This incident adds to the growing number of scams that have plagued the crypto industry, eroding trust among investors. In April, investors lost a minimum of $33 million in digital assets due to the fraudulent activities surrounding the ZKasino gambling platform. However, despite this high-profile case, the total losses from scams and hacks in April amounted to only $25.7 million, which is the lowest figure recorded since 2021 when CertiK began tracking such data.
The decline in losses can be attributed to the decrease in private key compromises. In April, there were only three instances of private key leaks, compared to March when there were over 11 attacks resulting from private key compromises. CertiK’s report does not include the $33 million ZKasino scam, as it is still considered a “controversy” rather than a confirmed scam. If ZKasino is confirmed to be a malicious actor, CertiK will update its figures accordingly.
It is evident that scams and hacks continue to pose a significant threat to the crypto industry. In another notable case, the Lazarus Group has laundered over $200 million in hacked cryptocurrency since 2020. These incidents highlight the need for increased security measures and vigilance among traders and investors in order to protect their digital assets from falling into the hands of scammers.