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There is a generally growing occurrence of crypto scams and hacks.
The Discord servers of several high-profile blockchain protocols, including Polygon (MATIC), Avalanche (AVAX), and zkSync (ZK), took a major hit over the weekend. The breach started with Polygon on August 24, causing the protocol’s Chief Information Security Officer, Mudit Gupta, to sound the alarm on X. He encouraged users to exercise caution and avoid phishing links.
Unfortunately, one user lost $150,000 worth of Ethereum (ETH) after he allegedly interacted with what he thought to be an official announcement on Polygon’s Discord channel.
Discord Server Attackers Promise Free Tokens
About 48 hours later, the official servers of Layer-1 network Avalanche and Layer-2 blockchain zkSync also came down. Like in the case of Polygon, Avalanche warned its users to avoid any link on the Discord channel until the exploit is corrected. Some Avalanche users shared a screenshot showing the hackers’ activities.
Avax discord looking sus…disabled chat in all channels and an announcement about “claiming Avax from the foundation”
My advice?
…don’t click anything in that discord for a while… pic.twitter.com/x9MLy4vPeX
— Stog Chog🔺 (@stogchog) August 25, 2024
The attackers posted several links to sham distribution schemes for the AVAX coin. Users, holders, and Avalanche community members were made to believe that they could claim these supposedly free tokens. About an hour later, Ben Well, Avalanche’s community lead, claimed that the team had found and fixed the issue.
Well also assured its community members that Avalanche is working to restore the servers to normalcy. As the industry tried to recover from this hit, the zkSync server’s compromise report came. The attackers also shared malicious links to a sham “round 2 airdrop” scheme, promising users free ZK tokens. Until this writing, zkSync has not released any official statement addressing the attack.
However, a few team members noted the compromise on Discord.
Scams, Hacks, and Exploits Grows in Crypto Sector
There is a generally growing occurrence of crypto scams and hacks. Riding on this, Discord servers are also beginning to appear very enticing to these bad actors. Last week, crypto data aggregator CoinGecko warned digital asset holders about a fake airdrop scheme floating around social media platforms. This came after several posts showed up on X falsely claiming that a CoinGecko airdrop was confirmed.
One user, Wimar.X, said that even though the participation cost is $0, the potential reward is over $5,000. To authenticate his claim, Wimar referenced a 2020 CoinGecko blog post that discussed CoinGecko Candy, a project created to reward people for using CoinGecko. He then released a step-by-step guide on how to secure the airdrop.
Fortunately, the crypto data aggregator firm swung into action quickly and disassociated itself from the news, claiming the information was not true
Last month, Telegram-based tap-to-earn game Hamster Kombat experienced several phishing attacks. Players kept posting reports of being targets of these attacks. The frequency of these occurrences calls for greater security measures and caution by crypto enthusiasts.
Disclaimer: Coinspeaker is committed to providing unbiased and transparent reporting. This article aims to deliver accurate and timely information but should not be taken as financial or investment advice. Since market conditions can change rapidly, we encourage you to verify information on your own and consult with a professional before making any decisions based on this content.
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Benjamin Godfrey is a blockchain enthusiast and journalist who relishes writing about the real life applications of blockchain technology and innovations to drive general acceptance and worldwide integration of the emerging technology. His desire to educate people about cryptocurrencies inspires his contributions to renowned blockchain media and sites.
