A whale signed a transaction request from an unknown source, causing them to lose $55 million in DAI tokens.
The hacker converted a portion of their exploit into Ether.

As a researcher with years of experience in the crypto sphere, I have seen my fair share of cyberattacks and security breaches. However, the recent incident involving the whale who lost $55 million in DAI tokens through a phishing attack is a stark reminder that no one is immune to these threats.

As a researcher, I experienced a chilling incident where a fellow crypto user suffered a substantial loss on August 20. Unfortunately, they fell prey to a cunning phishing scam, unwittingly authorizing a malignant transaction worth approximately $55 million in stablecoins. This transfer, regrettably, ended up enriching the cybercriminal’s wallet and draining the user’s crypto holdings.

The financial transaction took place when they approved an unidentified transaction proposal on the Maker protocol, which is a decentralized app (Dapp) specializing in DeFi stablecoin lending. After signing the transaction, they ended up losing millions that they had saved in DAI stablecoins. In an attempt to transfer the assets linked with this harmful transaction to another digital wallet, they found out that the initial transfer of assets to the malicious actor’s wallet was successful. This left them with substantial losses and a very costly lesson learned the hard way.

Phishing Attack Stole $55 Million From Whale

Source: Lookonchain

The takeaway is to never approve any transaction requests from unrecognized sources. It’s crucial for users to thoroughly examine each transaction and understand their implications before giving their approval. In line with this advice, Lookonchain emphasized that it’s essential to double-check every transaction before clicking “confirm” and refrain from signing transactions of unknown origin.

It also reported on the hack, stating, “The whale carelessly signed an unknown transaction 13 hours ago, setting the owner of his 55.47M $DAI in Maker to the phishing address “0x0000db5c…41e70000”.” The hacker acted swiftly after their exploit to “set the owner to a newly created address “0x5D4b” and withdrew the 54.47M $DAI.” They then exchanged “27.5M $DAI for 10,625 $ETH.” Bad actors often convert their ill-gotten proceeds to ETH to use in crypto mixers and cover their tracks.

Phishing Attacks Are on the Rise

In the realm of cryptocurrencies, there’s a surge in phishing attempts aimed at tricking unsuspecting users. These schemes can manifest in various forms, such as fraudulent transaction requests. Alternatively, scammers may persuade users to download malicious software that can pilfer private key details or tamper with transactions to divert funds to unauthorized recipients. A report by CertiK from July highlighted a staggering $498 million lost in the first half of 2024 due to these phishing attacks.

2024-08-22 08:36

Phishing Attack Stole $55 Million From Whale

Phishing Attacks Are on the Rise

Read More

Minority Mindset