Telegram and WhatsApp users warned about new method of cryptocurrency theft

Representatives of an online security company have warned Telegram and WhatsApp users about a new method of cryptocurrency theft: attackers create fake versions of clients from which they steal information.

When using an unofficial client, a user runs the risk of encountering a «clipper» — a type of hacker software that replaces the contents of the clipboard. For example, a person copied the address of their crypto wallet to send it to someone in a chat, but ended up sending the address of the attacker’s wallet.

Since most unofficial applications use Chinese by default, experts believe that the software is primarily targeted at users from China. The fact is that Telegram has been blocked in China since 2015 and WhatsApp since 2017. Anyone who wants to use the instant messaging service has to look for workarounds, which is why interest in unofficial versions of the program is growing.

In addition to replacing content on the clipboard, such programs steal seed phrases and even recognize important information in screenshots and sent files. Most often, users encounter remote access viruses. After installing such programs, criminals gain full control over their victims' devices.

As a reminder, Ukraine’s cyber police arrested the developer of a remote access trojan (RAT), which allowed the hacker to infect more than 10,000 computers by passing off viruses as gaming programs. the 25-year-old attacker was exposed by officers of the Cybercrime Department of Khmelnytskyi region. At the time of the search, the hacker had almost 600 infected computers under his control, which he connected to in real time.