Telegram helps catch hackers who stole more than $ 6 million in cryptocurrencies

Analytics company Scam Sniffer has discovered that malware vendor Inferno Drainer has been linked to thousands of thefts of millions of dollars worth of digital assets.

According to a statement from Scam Sniffer, the real extent and initiators of the thefts were revealed after a suspected Inferno Drainer team member named Mr. Inferno appeared in the Scam Sniffer Telegram group.

«The Telegram channel helped to identify a website advertising the services of fraudsters. By requesting a hash of the transactions, we found them in the ScamSniffer database and linked them to some of the known addresses of malicious Web3 websites on our platform. Itbecame known that in March alone, Inferno attackers created about 700 phishing web pages to steal data and crypto assets,» Scam Sniffer representatives said.

So far, about 5,000 victims of the Inferno Drainer scam have been identified, who have lost more than $ 5.9 million in several cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The Ethereum network lost $ 4.3 million, Arbitrum — $ 0.79 million, Polygon — $ 0.41 million, and BNB — $ 0.39 million.

In 2022, more than a third of Americans who own cryptocurrencies fell victim to fraud. Users do not pay due attention to the methods of protecting their crypto assets. Personal data was stolen from 19% of the victims, and payment details from 27%. The average amount of stolen funds was $ 97,583.