Unknown fraudster stole more than $200,000 through fake Discord servers
Date: 2023-07-18 Author: Karina Ziganova Categories: BLOCKCHAIN, IN WORLD
Blockchain analyst ZachXBT claims that a Canadian scammer under the nickname Soup helped steal millions of assets through fake Discord servers.
ZachXBT detailed some of the Soup exploits. The attacker, in particular, impersonated an engineer in order to lure people to a fraudulent server. In doing so, he worked alongside other scammers, using phishing tactics to target people associated with crypto projects such as Orbiter Finance and Pika Protocol.
According to the analyst, in May, Pika Protocol's Discord was compromised as part of a scheme to steal digital assets.
"The scammers posted a malicious link in the [Pika Protocol] ad channel, helping them steal [$220,000]," the expert said.
In the case of Orbiter Finance, ZachXBT stated that Soup and other criminals used a "malicious link" to steal more than $760,000 worth of assets. Soup used the proceeds of online theft to buy exclusive Roblox items.
How scammers operate through "Discord"
Since the beginning of the year, several cases of fraud through Discord servers have been known at once. In June, attackers hacked into Orbiter Finance's official Discord server.
Prior to that, in March, a phishing link was posted on Arbitrum's Discord. The scammer claimed that users could "re-claim an additional stake in Arbitrum DAO." To confirm their eligibility and receive tokens, users were asked to click on a link in which Arbitrum was misspelled as "Arbtirum".
The crypto industry lost $479.4 million in six months
The crypto industry's losses reached $479.4 million in the first half of 2023. However, this amount was about five times less compared to the same period last year.
In addition, decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols were hit 98% of cases in the first half of 2023 – they accounted for $414 of all stolen money. Most of the attacks on projects took place on the Ethereum network. In this blockchain, losses reached $287 million.
Among the largest hacks are the DeFi protocol Euler ($197 million), as well as the decentralized wallet Atomic Wallet ($65 million). The most difficult month was April, when fraudsters stole $ 203.3 million.
