$55M in DAI stolen from crypto whale in phishing attack

A significant phishing attack has resulted in the theft of $55 million from a prominent crypto wallet, underscoring the increasing risks of such scams in the cryptocurrency space.

On August 20, a crypto whale signed an unverified transaction that transferred ownership of 55.47 million Dai (CRYPTO:DAI) in the decentralized finance (DeFi) protocol Maker to a phishing address.

This transaction allowed malicious actors to take control of the wallet’s stablecoins.

The wallet owner, realizing the error, attempted to transfer the funds to a new address.

Unfortunately, this attempt failed because the ownership change had already occurred.

The attackers had already set up a new address and extracted the stolen assets.

They converted 27.5 million DAI into 10,625 Ether (CRYPTO:ETH), highlighting the swift and effective nature of the attack.

Blockchain analytics firm Lookonchain reported on the incident and advised users to avoid signing unknown transactions.

They emphasized the importance of verifying transactions before confirming them to prevent such thefts.

Phishing attacks, which deceive victims into signing malicious transactions or installing fake software, have become increasingly prevalent.

These attacks often involve tricking victims into revealing private keys, personal information, or granting unauthorized access to their wallets.

In the first half of 2024 alone, phishing attacks caused nearly $500 million in losses.

CertiK, a blockchain security firm, highlighted the urgent need for enhanced security measures, such as multifactor authentication, to protect against these attacks.

Australian authorities are also grappling with similar issues.

On August 4, the Australian Federal Police reported investigating phishing scams that affected 2,000 Australian-owned digital asset wallets.

Additionally, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission revealed on August 19 that it had removed over 5,500 fake investment platforms and phishing links since July 2023.

This incident serves as a stark reminder of the need for vigilance and robust security practices in the cryptocurrency world.

At the time of reporting, Dai was valued at $0.9997.