Scammer Steals $20M USDT in Zero Transfer Phishing Attack
• A scammer using zero transfer phishing attack managed to steal $20 million worth of Tether (USDT).
• The intended address that the victim planned to send money to was 0xa7B4BAC8f0f9692e56750aEFB5f6cB5516E90570; however, it was sent to a phishing address instead.
• Zero transfer scams have become quite prominent in the crypto ecosystem over the past year, with multiple instances coming to light.
Zero Transfer Scammer Steals $20M USDT
A scammer using zero transfer phishing attack managed to steal $20 million worth of Tether (USDT) on Aug. 1 before getting blacklisted by the stablecoin’s issuer Tether.
How Does Zero Transfer Phishing Work?
The victim is tricked into sending a transaction for zero tokens from their wallet to an address that resembles one to which they have already sent tokens before. For instance, if the victim sent 100 coins to an address for an exchange deposit, the attacker might send 0 coins from the victim’s wallet to an address that appears similar but is controlled by the attacker. Upon viewing this transaction in their transaction history, the victim might assume that the address displayed is the proper deposit address and send their coins to the phishing address.
Recent Increase in Zero Transfer Scams
Zero transfer scams are becoming prominent in the crypto ecosystem, with over $40 million stolen in 2023 alone. Users generally check the first or last five digits of a wallet address, not the whole address, leading them to send assets mistakenly to a phishing address.
Tether’s Immediate Action Against The Scammer
The wallet was immediately frozen by USDT issuer Tether, which raised eyebrows at its speedy nature of action.
Conclusion
Zero transfer phishing scams have become quite prominent in recent years and users must be vigilant when making payments with cryptocurrency as these scams can be difficult to detect and can result in significant losses if not properly addressed.
