New report warns phishing scams on the rise among airdrop offers

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The team behind the popular multiple-operating systems anti-malware software, Malwarebytes, has warned that digital currency-related phishing scams have been increasing in the number of late. 

In a recent report, Malwarebytes highlighted that the most common format the scams have been taking is digital currency airdrop offers. Airdrops, which have been historically used by digital currency projects as a promotional tactic, are now being leveraged by scammers to steal from unwary users. 

Airdrop phishing: what is it, and how is my cryptocurrency at risk? https://t.co/kWG09l06fi

— Malwarebytes (@Malwarebytes) May 3, 2022

Malwarebytes noted that with the increase in their number, phishing attacks have also been getting highly sophisticated. The scammers have developed ways of mirroring/spoofing genuine projects which is how many users fall victim to them, and both social media accounts and website links are used to carry out the attacks. 

In recent times, this has been most apparent in the number of sleek scams related to Yuga Labs’ family of NFTs that have cropped up.

“Apes are, of course, the hottest draw in town where Airdrop phishing is concerned… Anything ape related is a giant dollar sign in the sky for fraudsters, and the variety of fake pages out there reflects this,” the report intoned. 

Another common airdrop phishing tactic Malwarebytes notes is the “connect your wallet” scam format. This is where rogue sites ask users to connect their digital assets wallet to receive the airdrop of free tokens. 

There are ways to recognize the phishing scams, however. A big red flag to be wary of is websites that request funds, login information, or wallet recovery phrases from users. In general, avoiding connecting your wallet to just any website is advised.

Scams have been a growing pain in the digital currency industry 

The experts’ warning is a timely one as scams have been one of the biggest criticisms of the digital currency market. According to a Time report, scammers stole an eye-popping $14 billion from the industry in 2021. 

This year has also seen several high-profile digital currency exploits. Meanwhile, disgruntled investors have also been taking digital currency firms to court over phishing scams. 

In a recently filed U.S. case, Trezor wallet users sued Intuit, the owner of MailChimp. The users claim that Intuit’s negligence allowed the emailing marketing service to be used in a phishing campaign in which digital assets were lost. 

Significantly, the endemic spate of scams in the industry is one of the major reasons the digital currency market has been getting a lot of attention from regulators globally. 

Watch: CoinGeek New York presentation, Blockchain as a valuable tool for law enforcement