- A scammer hijacked Ethereum creator’s X account last Saturday.
- Victims of the scam link posted on Vitalik Buterin’s account lost $691,000 to the scammer.
Scammer Hijack Vitalin Buterin’s X Account
Vitalik Buterin, Ethereum’s creator and co-founder, briefly lost his X account to scammers on Saturday. The unidentified scammer made a post on Buterin’s account, announcing the launch of a commemorative NFT from Consensys, with a link to claim the NFT.
“Proto honors the work of the devs who made this possible. The collection is free for the next 24 hours. Claim your piece of history,” the post exhorted users before offering a link titled “Explore the Merge with Consensys.”
Several crypto users connected their wallets to the site, losing valuable NFTs and assets. An Ethereum developer, Boo Koo, made a post, deterring people from connecting their wallets to the scam link. He was one of the crypto users who fell victim to the scam, having lost some CryptoPunk NFTs. A CryptoPunk NFT is currently worth $76,837.
While crypto users tried to create awareness to prevent others from losing their funds, Buterin’s father, Dmitri Buterin, confirmed that his son’s account had been hacked.
“Disregard this post; apparently, Vitalik has been hacked. He is working on restoring access,” Dmitri stated in an X post.
The post has been deleted, and Vitalik’s access to his account has been restored, but the Ethereum creator has yet to make a public post about the hack.
Several crypto users lost valuable NFTs and crypto assets to the scam link. Quit, a crypto user on X stated that a CryptoPunk NFT, which was part of the assets stolen by the hacker, was the first Lava Labs Crypto Punk minted by the public.
“It wasn’t just any punk that got drained today. This hoodie punk represents the first punk ever claimed by the public, in essence, the first NFT ever minted. It took Vitalik himself to pry it away from the owner’s wallet. RIP to a legend,” X user, Quit, posted.
Less than an hour after the hack, the scammer’s wallet address was worth $147,000, according to ZachXBT, a blockchain investigator.
Subsequently, the scammer’s portfolio increased to $520,000, then $691,000. The self-acclaimed 2D detective also revealed that the scammer sent a stolen NFT to Vitalik Buterin’s wallet.
The latest phishing incident joins the long list of scams plaguing the crypto industry. In 2022, Chain Analysis recorded $20 billion lost to crypto crime.
Last week, Certik shared a data analysis on crypto scams for the year. According to the report, the crypto industry has lost almost $1 billion to cyber attacks, hacks, exploits, and scams this year. In August, the crypto space suffered 36 cybercriminal attacks, leading to a loss of $46 million.
The high rate of scams in the crypto industry intensifies the need for more robust wallet security and measures.
The CEO of the world’s largest crypto exchange, Binance, emphasized the importance of two-factor authentication to ensure the security of accounts. However, the 2FA feature is only available to Twitter Blue subscribers, leaving non-subscribers vulnerable.
