Binance users read a text message that suggests stopping an unauthorized transaction and it redirects them to a fake website that extracts their digital currencies. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao warned users of the cryptocurrency exchange about a new phishing scam executed via text messages.
Zhao, nicknamed ‘CZ’used Twitter on Friday to highlight that it appears that some customers have been receiving text messages to their mobile phones with a suspicious link to cancel transactions or withdrawals. This shady link would send users to a fake website that imitates Binance to extract their personal data and empty their wallets.
The CEO’s warning message also included a picture showing the fake message that has allegedly approached many users. The chairman stated that a withdrawal gets requested from an unknown IP address and then they send a link that redirects people to a malicious site that steals all their funds.
The scam achieves its goal by sending users a text message posing as Binance with a link to cancel unexistent withdrawals. The link then leads them to a fake website created to collect their login data and extract their cryptocurrency funds.
This scam modality gets popularly known as phishing and is a new kind of attack in which cyber scammers emulate a known and popular company, website, or application to extract personal data from users and steal all their funds.
Phishing Scams and Tricks that Criminals Apply to Steal Crypto
These types of scams are common activities in the digital currency environment. Late last year, an investigation reached the conclusion that many phishing attacks targeting crypto wallet users such as Metamask had stolen more than $500,000 in cryptocurrency.
A non-fungible token collector also lost more than $2 million in various digital assets from valuable collections due to a hacking attack. The theft of the NFTs took effect once the user gained access to a contract from a network that looked trusted.
Phishing attacks are just one of the shady strategies the hackers apply to commit fraud and steal digital currencies. Just some days ago, the digital currency space went through one of the most prominent attacks in recent times when the cross-chain protocol Wormhole experienced a $325 million exploit.
Binance recently revealed a $1 billion fund to deal with potential hacking attacks. This lifeline is a procedure applied to compensate users that fell victim to hacks that take effect when the exchange’s security measures crumble down due to a failure, so it does not cover losses caused by phishing.
USD 1 Billion Buffer Fund
Binance highlighted that the fund had a role as a part of a strategy at works since 2018. it works by allocating and moving the capital to an emergency portfolio. The company reported a movement of at least 10% of all trading fees to feed the fund.
According to the company, the fund gained a valuation of USD 1,000 million. Binance shared wallet profiles, allowing users to check their money. The exchange also added that it would continue to track the SAFU to protect and respond to users’ requirements.
By: Jenson Nuñez
