A Giga Token holder fell victim to a phishing attack, losing $6.09 million after clicking a fake Zoom link.
How the Attack Happened
An investor holding GIGA tokens received a fraudulent Zoom meeting link. The deceptive link redirected them to a fake website designed to capture sensitive wallet information. Once on the site, the victim unwittingly provided access to their crypto wallets, allowing the hacker to steal the funds.
Investigation into the Incident
According to findings from Onchain Lens, the hacker extracted 95.3 million GIGA tokens, worth approximately $6.09 million at the time. The scammer then converted the stolen tokens into $SOL, valued at about $2.1 million, which was later converted into stablecoins like $USDC and $USDT, before being transferred to other wallet addresses. Some of the stolen funds even reached the KuCoin exchange, complicating the traceability of the theft. Following the theft, the victim contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a forensic team to investigate the incident and possibly recover the stolen funds. However, the recovery remains uncertain.
The Growing Threat of Crypto Phishing Attacks
Scammers in the crypto space often impersonate trusted entities to trick victims into sharing sensitive information such as wallet private keys. In this case, the hacker used a fake Zoom link to deceive the victim into providing the necessary details for the attack. According to Chainalysis, a blockchain analysis firm, crypto scams in 2024 are generating billions of dollars in illicit funds. Scammers have shifted from long-term schemes to more targeted and shorter campaigns. In fact, 43% of scam-related funds in 2024 were directed to wallets activated that same year. This demonstrates that scammers are increasingly agile in creating new wallets to avoid detection and improve their success rate. Furthermore, the average duration of these scams has decreased dramatically from 271 days in 2020 to just 42 days in 2024.
Crypto phishing attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, posing a significant threat to digital asset holders. Affected users should exercise caution and avoid clicking on unknown links.
