Hacker steals $ 2.6 million from Solana in phishing attack

X platform users have suffered another phishing attack — an attacker posing as a popular trader Ansem managed to steal $ 2.6 million in Solana cryptocurrency SOL $253.94 Solana -1.08% Market capitalization $120.55 billion VOL. 24 hours $0.92 billion .

Independent crypto detective ZachXBT reported that the attacker took advantage of the meme coin hype and began posting messages under each post of crypto trader Ansem, spreading his malicious link. The fraudster announced that Ansem was going to launch its own BULL token.

To participate in the pre-sale, users had to send 1 to 3 SOL to the specified address. The scammer even posted his message under the trader’s tweet, where he warned his followers that he was not launching any tokens. One of the gullible users has already lost $ 1.2 million in SOL. In a few hours, the attacker managed to collect another $ 250,000 worth of crypto assets. As a result, the loot amounted to almost $ 3 million.

Fraudsters have long been using similar tactics to steal cryptocurrencies, posing as influential members of the crypto community. With the number of phishing attacks on the rise, Web3 Scam Sniffer, a cybersecurity platform, urged cryptocurrency owners to remain vigilant. Fraudsters can impersonate not only well-known traders but also artists and developers of second-tier solutions focused on NFTs.

Earlier, Scam Sniffer analysts reported that in January 2024, hackers created more than 11,000 phishing resources and stole $ 55 million worth of cryptocurrencies. In February, hackers hacked the account of the American company MicroStrategy on X to post phishing links. User losses then exceeded $ 440,000.