FTX creditors face phishing hacks promising quick withdrawals of assets stuck after the exchange collapse in 2022. These fraudulent emails encourage creditors to transfer assets to their wallets, avoiding waiting periods and bankruptcy proceedings in progress. FTX actively sought funding from large corporations such as BlackRock and Google before its collapse last year.
FTX creditors are in the crosshairs of phishing hacks, which promise quick withdrawals of trapped assets left after the exchange’s collapse last November. These phishing attempts coincide with revelations that the bankrupt company had sought financial support from industry giants such as BlackRock and Google before its implosion.
The Alleged FTX Phishing Hacks
On October 20, Sunil, a prominent advocate for FTX creditors, advised FTX creditors not to click on any suspicious links in emails from attackers posing as FTX entities. These fraudulent emails promised creditors quick withdrawals and encouraged them to transfer their assets to their wallets. These instructions ignore the waiting periods and legal procedures in place surrounding bankruptcy proceedings.
According to the email, “priority customers” can now expedite the asset withdrawal process from the FTX platform. Part of it says the following:
“As a priority customer, you can now undergo the process of withdrawing your assets on the FTX platform and depositing them directly into your wallet, eliminating any waiting period and court results.
Meanwhile, this is not the first time FTX creditors have been hacked via a phishing scam. In August, the exchange confirmed that its bankruptcy claims agent, Kroll, suffered a breach that compromised customers’ personal information. It was unclear whether the hackers were using the stolen personal information in this incident.
Notably, these phishing hacks occur against the pending acquittal of FTX creditors. FTX recently proposed a resolution that will allow users to potentially recover around 90% of their assets starting next year.
FTX Sought Financing from Large Companies Before the Collapse
SBF founded FTX in 2019, locating its headquarters in the Bahamas. Before the crash, it was on par with Binance. In fact, its media activity has always surpassed the popularity of Zhao’s exchange. FTX’s success was unquestionable in May 2022, when it launched its stock trading tool. By then, the FTT token had been in use for some time and its performance in the market was promising. The disaster of November 2022 ended all this.
Before the collapse, FTX presented itself as a kind of brand in the crypto space. The exchange and SBF came to be seen as market heroes, rescuing companies with severe liquidity problems.
As the trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried unfolds, new insights continue to emerge about the company’s management practices and the events that led to the exchange’s downfall.
Evidence presented during the trial reveals that FTX had sought funding from corporate heavyweights such as BlackRock and Google before its collapse. This request for financing coincided with the company’s serious liquidity crisis, which ended up causing its implosion.
Additionally, the evidence highlights several rounds of financing efforts by the company, including some that did not materialize. Notably, in the C1 funding round, FTX had identified 15 potential investors, including BlackRock, Google, and Apollo.
While the company spoke to Apollo, BlackRock and Google were reportedly conducting their due diligence. BlackRock CEO Larry Fink said the asset manager invested $24 million in FTX before it collapsed last year.
By Leonardo Pérez
