Throughout the second quarter, crypto users were hit with an unprecedented wave of complex and psychologically manipulative scams. Criminal actors have become increasingly sophisticated in their techniques. Another victim claims to have lost $6.5 million after buying an at-risk cold wallet that was advertised on TikTok. The spike in these types of attacks brings to the forefront the continuing importance for increased vigilance and sophisticated security to be adopted by the crypto community.

One new attack vector comes from bad browser extensions masquerading as security products. The “Osiris” Chrome extension, for instance, misrepresented its ability to identify phishing links and unsafe websites. Rather, it had been purposefully crafted to jeopardize users’ crypto assets.

Phishing went lightyears ahead too, taking advantage of EIP-7702, which was brought on Ethereum’s most recent Pectra upgrade. These scams, which took many people by surprise, underscore the creativity and adaptability of cybercriminals in leveraging new technologies to find victims.

In another attack, assailants were able to take over several user accounts and make off with hundreds of thousands of dollars. How exactly they pulled off these account takeovers is still being investigated.

The firm did manage to freeze and recover approximately $12 million from 11 victims destination. By these victims, we mean the crypto theft they were reporting during Q2. These recoveries are welcome bright spots of hope during a broader wave of crypto crime and criminal activity.

Without research or scrutiny, these phony interfaces orchestrate attacks that deceive users into providing access to their wallet inadvertently.

"a near-perfect clone of the popular Revoke Cash interface" - Source not specified

These fake interfaces trick users into unknowingly granting access to their wallets.