Two brothers, Anton and James Peraire-Bueno, were indicted for a theft involving <button class="define-target" id="mev">MEV</button> — maximal extractable value. MEV involves previewing upcoming transactions on a blockchain and taking actions to extract additional profits — which can sometimes be substantial — based on that information.<p>According to the Justice Department, the Peraire-Buenos exploited a flaw in popular MEV software called "MEV-boost", which is used by most Ethereum <button class="define-target" id="validator">validators</button>. By creating their own validators and "bait transactions", they were able to trick MEV bots into proposing transactions involving illiquid cryptocurrencies, which the brothers then frontran. They were able to create false signatures that tricked a MEV-boost relay into releasing information about upcoming blocks that they were able to tamper with.</p><p>The brothers were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, and face up to 20 years in prison for each charge.</p><p>The Justice Department is describing the case as a "first-of-its-kind manipulation of the Ethereum blockchain". The case is an interesting one, as some believe the practice of MEV itself exploits Ethereum users. Others believe anything you can do with code should be allowed — "code is law". However, by signing false transactions and tricking the relay into releasing private information, the brothers' actions do seem to go beyond simply making profits in a "code is law" Wild West, and into the realm of actual fraud.</p>

, press release by the U.S. Department of Justice

"Two Brothers Arrested for Attacking Ethereum Blockchain and Stealing $25M in Cryptocurrency"

Peraire-Bueno MEV indictment

Brothers indicted for $25&nbsp;million MEV bot exploit

The Sonne Finance lending protocol was exploited for at least $20&nbsp;million as an attacker was able to exploit a vulnerability in some of their <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">smart contracts</button>. Sonne is a <button class="define-target" id="fork">fork</button> of the Compound Finance project, which has known vulnerabilities that are sometimes not properly addressed by people who reuse the code — as has happened with <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=radiant-capital-hack" target="_blank">Radiant Capital</a> and <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=80-million-stolen-from-fei-protocol-and-rari" target="_blank">Rari</a>.<p>After being alerted to the theft by several security companies, Sonne announced they had paused the contract on the Optimism Ethereum <button class="define-target" id="layer-2">layer-2</button> chain.</p>

Sonne Finance hack

Sonne Finance hacked for at least $20&nbsp;million

An attacker tried to pull off what could have been a ~$12&nbsp;million heist from ALEX Lab's XLink bridge after a <button class="define-target" id="private-key">private key</button> was compromised. However, the sloppy work by the attacker enabled an apparent <button class="define-target" id="whitehat">whitehat</button> hacker to step in.<p>The attacker was successfully able to transfer around 13.8&nbsp;million STX (~$2 million) on the Stack BTC <button class="define-target" id="layer-2">layer-2</button> chain. However, their attempts to steal assets notionally worth around $4.3&nbsp;million from the project's BNB Chain implementation failed when they upgraded the project <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">contract</button> to a malicious version, but failed to prevent <i>other</i> people from calling the withdraw function. The attacker's first transactions to withdraw the funds themself failed, and an apparent whitehat hacker was able to step in and complete the withdrawal ahead of the exploiter. They later negotiated a deal for the funds' return, after offering a 10% "<button class="define-target" id="bug-bounty">bounty</button>".</p><p>The exploiter had also tried, and failed, to steal assets notionally worth around $5&nbsp;million on the Ethereum blockchain, but failed to do so. ALEX Lab later announced they were able to recover or secure around $4.5&nbsp;million of those assets.</p>

ALEX XLink bridge theft

$2&nbsp;million stolen from ALEX's XLink bridge by bumbling exploiter

After the founder of the Solana-based Cypher <button class="define-target" id="derivative">futures</button> trading protocol publicly accused a core contributor of stealing funds, the contributor — publicly known only as "hoak" — has confessed to the thefts.<p>Cypher was <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=cypher-protocol-exploit" target="_blank">hacked</a> for $1&nbsp;million in August 2023, but was able to recover around $600,000 of the stolen funds, which they promised to distribute to impact users via a redemption fund. However, over a period of months and unbeknownst to the rest of the team, hoak had been dipping into the recovered funds — taking around half of what was in the fund for himself.</p><p>After he was accused, hoak fessed up in a public statement where he wrote that his actions were a "culmination of what snowballed into a crippling gambling addiction and probably multiple other psychological factors that went by unchecked for too long." He continued: "I know likely nothing I say or do will make things better - perhaps other than rotting in jail. To address the elephant in the room, the allegations are true, I took the funds and gambled them away. I didn’t run away with it, nor did anyone else."</p>

Cypher contributor theft

Cypher contributor admits to stealing over $300,000 due to "crippling gambling addiction"

An exploiter was able to create a fake version of the $GNUS token on the Fantom blockchain, then bridge the tokens to Ethereum and Polygon where they were then sold as though they were authentic. They were able to drain $1.27&nbsp;million from the project's liquidity pools.<p>GNUS.ai (short for "Genius", not a reference to the animal) is one of many AI-related blockchain projects that has sprung out of the recent AI hype. This particular one promises to allow people to "utiliz[e] unused cycles" on various computing devices for computation-intensive AI systems, using cryptocurrency for payments.</p>

GNUS.ai exploi

GNUS.ai exploited for $1.27&nbsp;million

An Ethereum <button class="define-target" id="wallet">wallet</button> was apparently drained of 1,155&nbsp;<button class="define-target" id="wrapped-token">wrapped</button> bitcoin (~$72.7&nbsp;million) when they transferred it to a malicious address that had been operating an <button class="define-target" id="address-poisoning">address poisoning</button> scheme.<p>Address poisoning is a scam tactic that takes advantage of crypto traders' tendencies to copy and paste wallet <button class="define-target" id="address">addresses</button> from their transaction histories, since the addresses are long strings of characters that are not practical to type from memory. By creating a new wallet address with identical start and/or ending character strings to addresses used by the victim, and spamming the victim with transactions from that similar address, scammers are sometimes able to get victims to erroneously copy the spoofed address for future transfers.</p><p>That's what appears to have happened in this case, when a victim transferred 1,155 wrapped bitcoin — tokens pegged to the bitcoin price meant for use on the Ethereum blockchain — to the malicious address.</p><p>The victim and the exploiter later reached an agreement for the return of most of the funds, with the exploiter keeping $7.2&nbsp;million as a "<button class="define-target" id="bug-bounty">bounty</button>".</p>

0x1E227 address poisoning

Wallet loses over $72&nbsp;million to address poisoning

Pike Finance, a cross-chain lending protocol, was exploited twice in four days as attackers discovered vulnerabilities in the project's <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">smart contracts</button>.<p>The first attack, on April 26, was enabled by a flaw in the security measures related to transfers of the USDC stablecoin. An attacker was able to change the recipient address and amount, ultimately making off with almost $300,000 in the stablecoin. Pike released a postmortem two days later, acknowledging that the bug had been identified by a third-party <button class="define-target" id="audit">auditor</button> but had not been rectified by their team.</p><p>When the Pike team went to patch the smart contracts to thwart this attack, they introduced new, even worse vulnerabilities. As a result, on April 30, an attacker was able to upgrade the project's smart contracts to malicious ones, then withdraw $1.68&nbsp;million in ETH, ARB, and OP tokens.</p><p>Pike Finance has offered a 20% reward for the return of the funds or information pertaining to the attacker, and has promised "a plan to make users whole". Pike, which launched in early 2024, is backed by Circle and Wormhole.</p>

"Post-Mortem Report: Pike USDC Withdrawal Vulnerability"

Pike Finance hacks

Pike Finance exploited for $2&nbsp;million in two separate attacks

Bahrain-based cryptocurrency exchange Rain was exploited for around $14.8&nbsp;million dollars on April 29. The exchange did not publicly disclose the hack until the suspicious outflows across <button class="define-target" id="wallet">wallets</button> on multiple blockchains were noticed by blockchain investigator zachxbt.<p>After zachxbt sounded the alarm on May 13, Rain admitted that they had had a "security incident", but stressed that customer funds were safe, and stated that the Rain Group had "covered any potential losses resulting from this incident".</p>

Rain cryptocurrency exchange hacked for $14.8&nbsp;million

Jay Mazini, an influencer who often boasted of his wealth on Instagram by doing cash giveaways to random strangers, has been sentenced to seven years in prison after running "overlapping fraud schemes" that scammed victims out of at least $8&nbsp;million. One of them involved a multi-million dollar cryptocurrency scam in which he would promise to pay higher prices for crypto, and would convince those who were interested to transfer their funds to him by providing doctored images of wire transfer confirmations to suggest that he'd fulfilled his end of the deal.<p>Mazini also ran a scam targeting the Muslim community in New York, via a company called Halal Capital. In reality, this was a Ponzi scheme, and payouts to his investors were funded in part by the crypto scam he was also running.</p><p>Mazini was arrested in March 2021 on kidnapping charges, after he kidnapped and beat someone who might have witnessed his frauds. He was sentenced to five years in prison for that charge, to which he pled guilty. His new fraud sentence will be served concurrently with the kidnapping sentence.</p><p>In addition to seven years in prison, Mazini has been ordered to forfeit $10 million. Restitution has not yet been determined.</p>

, U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York

"Instagram Influencer Known as 'Jay Mazini' Sentenced to 84 Months in Prison for Overlapping Fraud Schemes"

"Serial Scammer and Instagram Influencer Jay Mazini Pleads Guilty"

Jay Mazini sentenced

Instagram influencer Jay Mazini sentenced to seven years in prison for crypto fraud

A project promising to build a decentralized casino managed to raise $33&nbsp;million, despite an anonymous team that had exhibited several instances of shady behavior throughout ZKasino's development. The project promised that everyone who <button class="define-target" id="bridge">bridged</button> ETH to their <button class="define-target" id="layer-2">layer-2</button> chain would be able to receive their ETH back 1:1 in thirty days.<p>Instead, the project's creators transferred those more than 10,500 ETH ($33&nbsp;million) to Lido, an Ethereum <button class="define-target" id="staking">staking</button> service. As for the "return" of funds, the project team indeed followed through with their promises to return the crypto... except instead of ETH, depositors received the project's native token, ZKAS, which would vest over a period of 15 months. The project announced that they had calculated the ZKAS distribution based on a discounted rate, "as a favour to our users who have bridged to participate in the ecosystem". Gee, thanks!</p><p>One investor in the project wrote, "We made a mistake investing in Zkasino early. ... [I]t sounds like a scam, but 95% of crypto consists of such crap. With memecoins pumping every day, people believe this could be the next one."</p><p>It seems that ZKasino's creators have links to other crypto scams, including a failed "ZigZagExchange", which raised around $15&nbsp;million that was allegedly misallocated to work on the ZKasino project. Crypto sleuth zachxbt had also described the team as "proven bad actors" in December, listing multiple instances in which they had avoided making promised payments.</p><p>After the rug pull, the project's planned IDO on Ape Terminal and AIT Launchpad were canceled, and MEXC (which had invested in the project's seed round) canceled the token listing.</p>

"ZKasino Users Plead for Refunds as $33M of Bridged Ether Sent to Lido"

"ZKasino launch leads to widespread outrage as $33 million promised to investors is sent to Lido"

ZKasino rug pull

ZKasino rug pulls after raising $33&nbsp;million

Hedgey Finance, a platform used to manage token claims, lockups, and vesting, was hit with a <button class="define-target" id="flash-loan">flash loan</button> attack that drained $44.7&nbsp;million of customer funds from the platform.<p>The majority of assets were stolen from Hedgey on the Arbitrum <button class="define-target" id="layer-2">layer-2</button> network, although around $2.1&nbsp;million of them were stolen from the version deployed on the Ethereum mainnet.</p><p>Hedgey Finance confirmed the exploit, and sent an optimistic and congratulatory message on-chain: "Well done for finding it! We're assuming you executed this exploit as a <button class="define-target" id="white-hat">white hat</button>, so we'd like to get in touch with you to discuss next steps." No on-chain response thus far.</p>

Hedgey Finance hack

Hedgey Finance hacked for almost $45&nbsp;million

Grand Base, a <button class="define-target" id="real-world-asset">real world assets</button> platform built on the Base <button class="define-target" id="layer-2">layer-2</button> blockchain, has seen $2&nbsp;million exit the platform in a hack or <button class="define-target" id="rug-pull">rug pull</button>.<p>The team behind the project claimed that the <button class="define-target" id="deployer">deployer</button> wallet had been compromised, allowing an attacker to drain the project's <button class="define-target" id="liquidity-pool">liquidity pool</button>. Altogether, 615&nbsp;ETH (~$2&nbsp;million) was taken from the project.</p><p>Grand Base is a platform where users can trade "gAssets", which are crypto tokens that represent stocks in tech companies including Amazon, Apple, Google, Meta, and Microsoft.</p>

Grand Base theft

$2&nbsp;million emptied from Grand Base real world asset platform

Liquidators have been appointed for three cryptocurrency companies owned by Ash Balanian. DCA Capital, Digital Commodity Assets, and the Digital Commodity Assets Fund have all entered liquidation after investors raised red flags about the fund's management and licensure.<p>So far, losses are estimated to affect around 100 investors, who have up to AU$100&nbsp;million (US$65&nbsp;million) in claims.</p><p>Balanian had boasted of his career experience as a former NASA mission planner, and targeted his fund to wealthy investors with a minimum initial deposit of AU$50,000 (~US$33,000).</p>

"Up to $150 million at risk as two Australian bitcoin schemes go bust"

DCA Fund collapse

Australian DCA Fund collapses with up to $65&nbsp;million owed to creditors

NGS Crypto, which sold "crypto mining packages" to interested investors, has been put into receivership. The Australian firm encouraged customers to set up a self-managed super fund — a type of retirement fund — to achieve returns they said were powered by crypto mining. The firms advertised returns of up to 16% annually, and promised that investors would receive 100% of their initial investment back at the term's completion — even "in the unlikely event that crypto mining becomes unprofitable".<p>NGS and its associated business is believed to have pulled in around AU$62&nbsp;million (US$42&nbsp;million) from around 450 Australians.</p>

Australian NGS Crypto mining fund collapses

STFIL, a protocol that promises liquid staking and "leverage mining" to holders of Filecoin's FIL token, announced on Twitter that "We believe that the STFIL core technical team is under investigation by local Chinese police."<p>According to STFIL, while some of the core team members were detained by Chinese police, FIL tokens were moved to an unknown wallet. They also acknowledged that there had been "abnormal, unscheduled upgrades to the protocol". They asked their community members for help in tracking the wallet.</p><p>Some speculated that the story was fake, and that the project had stolen the funds. However, Chinese police have in several instances cracked down on people and companies involved in Filecoin-related projects, including an <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=shenzhen-shikongyun-technology-scheme" target="_blank">$83.3 million alleged pyramid scheme</a> in August 2023 and a group of <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=filecoin-ponzi-scheme" target="_blank">Filecoin Ponzi schemers</a> in 2021. Filecoin mining became popular in China after its 2018 initial coin offering, and also became a magnet for Ponzi schemes and other scams.</p>

"Filecoin liquid staking platform STFIL claims team members under investigation by Chinese police"

STFIL investigation

$23&nbsp;million goes missing amid STFIL claims that they're being investigated

A person or group have raised funds for various crypto projects only to abandon them, empty the project wallets, and <button class="define-target" id="tumbler">launder</button> the funds through Tornado Cash. The largest of the projects was called "MuskSwap", which proclaimed: "$MUSK &amp; MuskSwap was born to show admiration to elon musk's super projects like solarcity, tesla, space x and his constant influence on the world finance &amp; the crypto market."<p>The project described itself as a <button class="define-target" id="dex">DEX</button> with a native $MUSK token, and launched in July 2021. However, the token tanked on December 25, 2021. Although the project team tried to blame the crash on "liquidity issues" and promised paths forward, they locked the project Telegram chat on March 11, 2022. On April 5, 2022, the team withdrew remaining funds and deleted the website.</p><p>Crypto analysis firm CertiK linked the MuskSwap project to several other scam tokens and projects: RocketDoge, InfinityGame, SpaceX, MUFC (themed after Manchester United), and Elona Musk. Altogether, the rug pulls have drawn in $5.1&nbsp;million.</p>

"Decrypting MuskSwap: A web of Scams and Tracking Funds Through Tornado Cash"

MuskSwap exit scam

MuskSwap and related projects exit scam for over $5&nbsp;million

A project describing itself as "The world's first memecoin pre-announced as a rugpull" was explicit in its marketing: "do not buy this coin, as it will go to zero."<p>Despite that, people sent the creator over 8.8&nbsp;ETH (almost $29,000) for the project's "pre-sale", even as they repeated on Twitter that the project was a scam and that no one should buy it.</p>

Rug pull token

Project promising to rug pull raises almost $29,000

The Solana ecosystem is grappling with a spate of drained wallets. A cause has yet to be definitively determined, but some of the thefts were linked to the use of trading bots like Solareum. Solareum speculated that the exploits may have been linked to compromised Telegram bot tokens, which could have allowed the attackers to obtain private keys from message history.<p>Solareum later wrote that they would be closing the project, and deleted their website. This drew some criticism from users who accused them of doing nothing to investigate the hack, or even being responsible themselves. The project wrote on Twitter, "We at #SOLAREUM team can clarify that we DO NOT steal money." Ah, well, in that case.</p><p>Other bots may have been involved in the theft, though it's not clear at this point. Though there was some speculation that a trading bot called BonkBot was to blame, that seems to have been unfounded.</p><p>The total theft amount is not clear, but exceeds $500,000.</p>

Solana drain attacks

Solana faces wave of drain attacks linked to trading bots including Solareum

The <button class="define-target" id="defi">defi</button> protocol Prisma Finance was hacked for 3,257&nbsp;ETH ($11.5&nbsp;million). An attacker was able to take advantage of a flaw in the project's <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">smart contracts</button>, allowing them to manipulate users' positions and steal some of their collateral. Two other watchful attackers observed the attack strategy and replicated it, stealing a combined additional 173&nbsp;ETH (~$610,000).<p>Plasma paused the protocol after detecting the attack.</p><p>The first attacker, who stole the bulk of the assets, sent an on-chain message to Prisma claiming that they had performed a "whitehat rescue", and inquired about returning the funds. In later messages, however, they asked the project to answer questions about their security practices and projects' responsibilities to users to prevent attacks. The attacker then transferred the stolen funds to Tornado Cash — indicating their return is unlikely.</p><p>In another message, the attacker was angry that Prisma had not expressed gratitude to them or remorse to their users, and was angry they had used terms like "exploit" and "attack" in their description of the incident. They demanded that the team reveal their identities, apologize, and thank the attacker in an online press conference.</p>

"Prisma Finance Exploit - March 28, 2024 - Post-Mortem"

Prisma Finance hack

Prisma Finance hacked for $12&nbsp;million; attacker makes detailed demands

The "Munchables" crypto game explains: "Schnibbles grow on every realm across the Munchable's world. Each realm has their own unique and distinctive schniblet, and the Munchables react differently based on their compatibility to the schniblets fed to them. When creating an account for the Munchables, you must choose the location of your snuggery." Right then.<p>Things went awry in the land of the schnibbles and snuggeries when an attacker siphoned around 17,400&nbsp;ETH ($62.5&nbsp;million). Various descriptions of the attack circulated, with blockchain sleuth zachxbt attributing it to a recently hired developer, and crypto developer 0xQuit claiming the theft appeared to have been "planned since deploy".</p><p>Some began discussing the possibility that the Blast layer-2 blockchain might forcibly roll back the chain to "undo" the hack. Some have argued this is contra to the crypto ethos or would set a bad precedent, while others have argued that as a blockchain focused more on gaming and experimentation and less on decentralization and other facets of crypto ideology, it would be a reasonable step.</p><p>Some hours after the attack, the exploiter was convinced to return the funds.</p>

"Crypto game ‘Munchables’ on Blast exploited for $63M"

Munchables hack

"Munchables" crypto game exploited for $62.5&nbsp;million

The LENX cross-chain bitcoin liquidity protocol has recently been accused of a $10&nbsp;million <button class="define-target" id="rug-pull">rug pull</button> after community members observed massive withdrawals of treasury funds which were then sent to Binance accounts.<p>One of the co-founders, known only as "Paul", claimed on Discord that he was "trying to investigate" the movement of funds, which have been blamed on the project's other co-founder, John Kim.</p><p>Conversations on Discord suggest that a remaining $3&nbsp;million in treasury funds were protected, and that the remaining LENX team may have been able to convince Binance to freeze the account that received stolen funds. However, little has been verifiably confirmed to date.</p><p>LENX is backed by the Frax Finance lending protocol.</p>

"Unexplained transfers on LENX protocol spark rug pull concerns"

LENX rug pull

LENX co-founder accused of $10&nbsp;million rug pull

Curio, a crypto project that creates tokens based on "real-world assets" (RWAs) like cars, watches, wine, and other goods, has suffered an attack that saw around $16&nbsp;million drained from the project's funds.<p>A bug in the project's Ethereum <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">smart contract</button> enabled an attacker to mint 1&nbsp;billion of the project's CGT <button class="define-target" id="governance-token">governance token</button>. Although the tokens were notionally priced at around $40&nbsp;million, the loss to the project was estimated at closer to $16&nbsp;million.</p><p>Curio <button class="define-target" id="dao">DAO</button> announced that they intended to compensate users affected by the theft over a year-long period.</p>

"Hacker mints 1B tokens in $16M Curio smart contract exploit"

"CurioDAO Q1 2024 Exploit Recovery Strategy"

Curio hack

Curio RWA project suffers $16&nbsp;million exploit

The astrology-based Lucky Star Currency project <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=lucky-star-currency-rug-pull" target="_blank">rug-pulled for $1.1&nbsp;million</a> in October 2023. You'd think that might be the end of it, but on March 22, 2024, ownership of the project was transferred to a malicious smart contract that then drained tokens priced at almost $300,000 from those who still held them.<p>You almost have to admire the tenacity.</p>

Lucky Star Currency rug pull #2

Previously rug-pulled Lucky Star Currency project somehow rugs again

Super Sushi Samurai, a new blockchain game on the Blast layer-2 blockchain was exploited for $4.6&nbsp;million when an attacker discovered a vulnerability in its <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">smart contract</button>. A bug in the <button class="define-target" id="mint">mint</button> functionality caused users who transferred their $SSS balance to themselves to receive twice as many tokens. An attacker took advantage of this to drain $4.6&nbsp;million from the project, causing the $SSS token to plummet by 99%.<p>The attacker contacted the project shortly after the theft, claiming to be a whitehat. They wrote, "Hi team, this is a whitehat rescue hack. Let's work on reimbursing the users." Super Sushi Samurai later confirmed that the funds had been returned, minus a 5% "bounty". The team also gave the whitehat an additional 2.5% in SSS tokens and land, and brought them on to the project team as a tech adviser.</p>

Super Sushi Samurai exploit

Super Sushi Samurai exploited by whitehat for $4.6&nbsp;million

A developer brought on to run a presale for the $TICKER token stole $900,000 from the project. 15% of the token supply was sent to the developer to distribute via an <button class="define-target" id="airdrop">airdrop</button>, but instead of doing so, the developer sold the majority of the tokens for around $900,000.<p>After the thief was identified by blockchain sleuth zachxbt, they posted a long message on Twitter, writing, "im not sorry for any of you, tbh. you are all morons if you believe all it needs to make it here is to send your money to a custodial address and get rich". The thief later spent some of the money on Milady NFTs and memecoins.</p><p>zachxbt stated that he had identified the developer, including his full name, location, and other details. He encouraged those who were scammed to contact him if they were interested in pursuing legal action.</p>

TICKER rug pull

TICKER project developer steals $900,000

The Dolomite DEX suffered a $1.8&nbsp;million theft as an exploiter was able to take advantage of a vulnerability in a <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">smart contract</button> that had been deployed in 2019. Although most contemporary users of the exchange use a version deployed on the Arbitrum <button class="define-target" id="layer-2">layer-2</button> network, the old contracts were still usable on Ethereum.<p>An attacker apparently discovered a reentrancy bug allowing them to drain user funds from those who had approved the old contract. Altogether, around $1.8&nbsp;million was taken before the team disabled the contract. The attacker quickly <button class="define-target" id="tumbler">tumbled</button> the stolen funds through Tornado Cash.</p>

"Old Dolomite exchange contract suffers $1.8M loss from approval exploit"

Dolomite exchange hack

Dolomite exchange exploited for $1.8&nbsp;million

An attacker used social engineering techniques to gain access to the AirDAO project's liquidity pool. They then were able to drain 126.5&nbsp;ETH (~$551,540) and 41.6&nbsp;million AMB (notionally priced at around $500,000, but not very liquid). The thief then transferred the stolen tokens through various exchanges.<p>AirDAO announced the theft the following day, and stated that they were working to track and freeze stolen funds. They also offered the attacker a 10% "<button class="define-target" id="bug-bounty">bounty</button>" if they chose to return the stolen assets.</p>

AirDAO exploit

AirDAO exploited via social engineering attack

People have gotten really into <button class="define-target" id="memecoin">memecoin</button> trading on Solana recently. Like <i>really</i> into it. Someone decided they'd hop on the bandwagon with "Slerf", a sloth-themed memecoin they said would launch with a 50% presale.<p>Thanks to the aforementioned frenzy, the project managed to raise $10&nbsp;million in the presale. However, things went sideways when the developer accidentally <button class="define-target" id="burn">burned</button> the $10&nbsp;million by sending them to an address where they would be permanently inaccessible. "oh fuck", the developer wrote ominously on Twitter, before explaining their mistake.</p><p>Some speculated that the screwup may have been a marketing ploy, in which case it was very successful, because the token went on to post more than $2.7&nbsp;billion in trading volume over a 24-hour period — more than the entire ETH trading volume in that period. The monumental error by the developers seemed to have no damper on the overall frenzy around memecoins, or even produced the opposite effect.</p><p>Surely this trend won't end badly.</p>

"Solana Meme Coin Slerf Clocks Higher Trading Volume Than All of Ethereum"

Slerf memecoin meltdown only adds to mania

"Charlotte Fang", the leader of the <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=founder-of-milady-nft-project-revealed-to-have-horrifying-history" target="_blank">controversial</a> Remilia project (known for its Milady NFTs), claimed he was hacked and drained of ETH and NFTs potentially worth several million dollars. Although the project's treasury used a <button class="define-target" id="multisig">multi-signature</button> model, the <button class="define-target" id="private-key">private keys</button> were stored in one password manager, which Fang says was compromised.<p>The attacker stole around 490&nbsp;ETH (~$1.8&nbsp;million) and $58,000 USDC, along with more than 130&nbsp;Milady NFTs, 320&nbsp;Remilio NFTs, and hundreds of derivative tokens issued on the NFTX platform. Based on <button class="define-target" id="floor-price">floor prices</button>, the assets are valued at north of $6&nbsp;million.</p><p>The mechanism of the attack is still uncertain, though Fang has said he suspects malware that could have intercepted credentials to his Bitwarden password manager. Some have expressed skepticism around the "hack", suggesting it could have been inside job. The Remilia group had suffered a separate <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=remilia-theft" target="_blank">$1&nbsp;million loss in September 2023</a> — blamed on a rogue developer — and failed to implement many security safeguards after that incident.</p>

Remilia Collective reports multi-million dollar hack

Someone impersonating Ansem, an influential crypto trader, was able to scam people out of more than $2.6&nbsp;million simply by replying to the real Ansem's tweets. Using an account mimicking the real account, with only a slight difference in the username, a phisher convinced Ansem's followers that he was creating his own Solana <button class="define-target" id="memecoin">memecoin</button> and asked them to buy in.<p>In one of the real Ansem's tweets, Ansem wrote "i dont launch coins bros" — nevertheless, followers eager to get in early on a new memecoin clicked a link offering a presale and had their wallets <button class="define-target" id="drainer">drained</button>.</p><p>Altogether, people lost $2.6&nbsp;million to the scam. One individual lost $1.2&nbsp;million.</p>

Ansem Twitter impersonator

Phisher impersonating influential crypto trader in Twitter replies scams over $2.6&nbsp;million

Wilder World is a blockchain-based racing game that uses all the buzzwords: blockchains, artificial intelligence, and <button class="define-target" id="metaverse">metaverse</button>. On March 16, someone with access to the project <button class="define-target" id="deployer">deployer's</button> <button class="define-target" id="private-key">private key</button> upgraded legacy contracts and transfer the project's $WILD and $MEOW tokens to themselves. Altogether, the attacker profited 515&nbsp;ETH (~$1.8&nbsp;million), which they then laundered through the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency <button class="define-target" id="tumbler">tumbler</button>.<p>The project blamed the theft on a previous contractor who had the private key. They also explained that the attacker seemed to be a developer based on the fact that they had "specialized knowledge of ZERO's internal security systems".</p>

Wilder World theft

Wilder World game suffers $1.8&nbsp;million theft, blames contractor

The "AI-optimized" defi project Mozaic Fi was exploited by an attacker who drained around $2&nbsp;million in funds from the project.<p>According to MozaicFi, the theft had been perpetrated by a rogue developer who was able to gain access to a private key held by a core team member. They also claimed that a simultaneous large sale of the Mozaic token resulted in cascading liquidations.</p><p>In good news for the project, the attacker moved around 90% of the stolen funds to MEXC, a centralized cryptocurrency exchange that was able to freeze the thief's access to the funds.</p>

Mozaic exploit

Mozaic exploited for $2&nbsp;million, recovers 90%

The decentralized lending protocol, MOBOX, was exploited on March 14, 2024 after an attacker was able to take advantage of a bug in its referral program and borrowing functionality. By repeatedly borrowing funds and earning rewards, they were able to drain around $750,000 in USDT.

MOBOX exploit

MOBOX lending platform exploited for $750,000

An Ethereum holder who had been <button class="define-target" id="staking">staking</button> their ETH through a liquid restaking protocol called Ether.fi suffered a 501&nbsp;ETH (~$2.025&nbsp;million) loss when they fell victim to a phishing scam. They inadvertently signed a malicious transaction that granted the attacker "increase allowance" permissions, enabling them to siphon almost the entire sum of funds from the wallet. The individual was left with less than $1,500 in the wallet.

ether.fi phishing

Phishing attack drains $2&nbsp;million from one victim

The U.S. Attorney's Office in the District of Massachusetts announced that they had filed a civil forfeiture action to seize cryptocurrency priced at around $2.3&nbsp;million from two Binance accounts. Those accounts had received cryptocurrency of various kinds from at least 37 American victims, one of whom was based in Massachusetts and who lost $400,000 in crypto assets to the scammers.

, United States Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

"United States Files Forfeiture Action to Recover Cryptocurrency Traceable to Pig Butchering Romance Scam"

Massachusetts crypto romance scam

Massachusetts prosecutors seek to seize $2.3&nbsp;million from crypto romance scam

Since March 5, those who used the Incognito Market darkweb narcotics marketplace have found themselves unable to withdraw the Bitcoin and Monero they had on the platform. It appeared the platform had exit scammed for somewhere between $10 and $30&nbsp;million.<p>Making matters worse, on March 10 the website posted a message reading, "Yes, this is an extortion !!" They wrote that, although the platform promised to "auto-encrypt" messages between buyers and sellers, and auto-delete after an expiry date, messages were not encrypted or deleted. They demanded that users pay an additional $100 to $20,000 to have their information removed from the dataset, which they promised to release at the end of May. "Whether or not you and your customers' info is on that list is totally up to you."</p><p>The tactic is reminiscent of that of ransomware groups, which often demand double fees: one from victims of hacks first to regain access to their systems, and another in exchange for a promise to destroy stolen data.</p>

Incognito Darknet Market Mass-Extorts Buyers, Sellers

Incognito Market exit scam

Incognito Market drug marketplace pulls multi-million dollar double scam

Scam Sniffer's February 2024 report describes 57,000 victims who collectively lost almost $47&nbsp;million thanks to various phishing schemes on the Twitter platform. Many of the losses came from accounts designed to impersonate various popular cryptocurrency projects, who diverted users to scam websites resembling the real ones.<p>The largest individual loss was the <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=kirilmeth-phishing" target="_blank">phishing attack against kirilm.eth</a>, who had over 180&nbsp;million $BEAM tokens notionally worth over $5&nbsp;million drained from their crypto wallet. The attacker sold the tokens for around $4.5&nbsp;million.</p><p>The total amount stolen is down slightly from <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=january-2024-twitter-phishing" target="_blank">January, in which $55&nbsp;million was taken</a>. Altogether, scammers have stolen over $100&nbsp;million via Twitter phishing alone in the first two months of 2024.</p> 

February 2024 Scam Sniffer Phishing Report

February 2024 Twitter phishing

Twitter phishers steal over $46&nbsp;million from 57,000 victims in February

The Unizen defi platform lost around $2.1&nbsp;million in the Tether stablecoin in an attack that took advantage of a vulnerability an external call from the project <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">smart contract</button>.<p>The project team sent on-chain messages to the attacker, offering a 20% "<button class="define-target" id="bug-bount">bounty</button>" for the return of the remaining funds.</p>

Unizen hack

Unizen platform hacked for $2.1&nbsp;million

An attacker was able to use a <button class="define-target" id="flash-loan">flash loan</button> attack to <button class="define-target" id="oracle-manipulation">manipulate an oracle</button> on the WooFi <button class="define-target" id="dex">DEX</button> implementation on the Arbitrum network. By manipulating the price of $WOO, they were able to steal around $8.5&nbsp;million.<p>Blockchain security firms detected the attack quickly, and the project team paused the project's <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">smart contract</button> within fifteen minutes, but not before the millions were stolen. They contacted the attacker via an on-chain message to offer a 10% "bounty", later threatening that they had a "strong lead that we think will soon reveal the identity of the exploiter".</p>

WOOFi hack

WOOFi hacked for $8.75&nbsp;million

Someone who held over 111.6&nbsp;million ALI tokens from a project called The AI Protocol was phished by someone using a <button class="define-target" id="wallet-drainer">wallet drainer</button> service using a <button class="define-target" id="permit-phishing">permit phishing</button> technique. The tokens were priced at around $4.3&nbsp;million.<p>Blockchain sleuth zachxbt was able to coordinate with the project to organize a community governance vote to <button class="define-target" id="burn">burn</button> the stolen tokens before the attacker was able to cash out. Although this doesn't return the stolen funds to their original owner, it at least keeps the attacker from profiting.</p>

AI Protocol theft and burn

"The AI Protocol" burns tokens after holder suffers $4.3&nbsp;million theft

A bug in Seneca Protocol's <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">smart contract</button> has allowed attackers to steal funds from users who had approved the contract. So far, around $3&nbsp;million has been stolen across the Ethereum blockchain and Arbitrum <button class="define-target" id="layer-2">layer-2</button>.<p>Making things worse, although the project's smart contract inherits the <code>Pausable</code> module that should allow the Seneca team to halt the malfunctioning code, they never implemented the function, meaning there's no way for them to stop the thefts. Instead, individual users must each revoke access to the flawed contract.</p>

Seneca Protocol bug

Seneca Protocol bug enables at least $3&nbsp;million in stolen user funds

The Shido blockchain suffered an exploit of their <button class="define-target" id="staking">staking</button> <button class="define-target" id="smart-contract">smart contract</button>, in which an attacker was able to transfer ownership of the contract to another address and then upgrade the contract with a function that allowed them to withdraw staked tokens. Altogether, the attacker withdrew all 4.3&nbsp;billion staked $SHIDO tokens — over half the entire circulating supply.<p>Although the stolen tokens were nominally priced at $35&nbsp;million, the massive theft caused the price to plummet 94%. The attacker has converted the stolen tokens to around 956&nbsp;ETH ($3.3&nbsp;million).</p><p>The Shido team announced that they would be trying to offer a "<button class="define-target" id="bug-bounty">bounty</button>" to the hacker.</p>

"Shido token plummets 94% as exploiter drains Ethereum staking contract"

Shido contract exploit

Shido exploited for at least $3.3&nbsp;million

Serenity Shield, a project aiming to solve "crypto inheritence", has been hacked. Although the project prominently claims to help "ensur[e] your financial and personal security", they seem to have some trouble ensuring their own.<p>An attacker stole 6.9&nbsp;SERSH tokens from a MetaMask wallet belonging to the project. Although the tokens were <a href="https://blog.mollywhite.net/cryptocurrency-market-caps-and-notional-value/" target="_blank">ostensibly priced</a> at $5.6&nbsp;million, the thief was only able to sell them for around $586,000.</p><p>Serenity Shield confirmed the breach, and encouraged people to stop trading $SERSH as they planned to relaunch the token. "Rest assured, we are deploying all necessary safety measures to ensure a foolproof system," they wrote. This time it will be secure, they promise.</p><p>The team also sent a message to the hacker, offering a 15% "bounty" and a promise not to pursue legal action in exchange for the return of the stolen funds.</p><p>According to crypto sleuth zachxbt, the attack seems to be linked to exploits of <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=okx-dex-hack" target="_blank">OKX</a> (December 2023) and <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=concentric-finance-exploit" target="_blank">Concentric</a> (January 2024).</p>

Serenity Shield hack

"Crypto inheritence" project Serenity Shield hacked, token price plummets 99%

The Hong Kong-based BitForex cryptocurrency exchange has shut down access to its platform after a suspicious outflow of around $57&nbsp;million on several blockchains. Users who have tried to log in see a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloudflare" target="_blank">CloudFlare</a> page explaining that they are blocked from accessing the website by CloudFlare's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DDoS_mitigation" target="_blank">DDoS protection</a> service.<p>The withdrawals were first noticed by blockchain detective zachxbt, who also noted that the exchange has stopped processing withdrawals and has not been replying to customer support inquiries.</p><p>It seems likely that the outflows were an exit scam rather than an outside attack, particularly given the lack of communication and somewhat shady status of the exchange. The firm faced regulatory scrutiny in Japan in mid-2023 for operating without a license, and has been accused of inflating its trading volume. Its CEO resigned in January, but promised a new team would be taking over.</p>

"BitForex Website Goes Dark Amid Reported $57M Outflow"

"BitForex alleged $2.5 billion volume flatlines as exchange abruptly goes offline"

BitForex withdrawals

BitForex shuts off website after $57&nbsp;million withdrawal

MicroStrategy, the company founded and chaired by Bitcoin maximalist Michael Saylor, suffered a Twitter account compromise on February 26. Although MicroStrategy ostensibly develops software, it's better known for its massive Bitcoin holdings, driven by Saylor.<p>Although Saylor has been publicly critical of Ethereum, that didn't seem to raise flags among those eager to receive an <button class="define-target" id="airdrop">airdrop</button> of the Ethereum-based "MSTR" token that the company's Twitter account claimed they had just launched. Those who fell for the phishing link were redirected to a website that spoofed the real MicroStrategy website, with malicious code that drained funds.</p><p>Around $440,000 was stolen thanks to the fake announcement, with the majority of it coming from one wallet that was drained of a variety of tokens notionally worth around $425,000.</p>

"Hackers exploit MicroStrategy social media to orchestrate $440,000 phishing heist"

MicroStrategy Twitter hack

$440,000 stolen as MicroStrategy's Twitter account is hacked

RiskOnBlast, a gambling and trading platform on the new ethereum <button class="define-target" id="layer-2">layer-2</button> Blast blockchain, appears to have performed the blockchain's first major <button class="define-target" id="rug-pull">rug pull</button> — before the blockchain has even officially launched. Blast was created by the developers of the Blur NFT platform, and received funding from the Paradigm crypto VC.<p>The team behind Blast had even helped to promote the RiskOnBlast platform, tweeting from its official account that Blast was "a new challenger" in the ecosystem with "undeniable" potential.</p><p>On February 25, the platform drained more than 420&nbsp;ETH (~$1.3&nbsp;million) from more than 750 user wallets on their platform. The project's anonymous team then laundered the funds through various services and exchanges. All social media accounts for the project were taken offline.</p>

"Blast Ecosystem Sees First Apparent Scam as 'RiskOnBlast' Rug Pulls $1.3M Ether"

RiskOnBlast gambling platform rug pulls for $1.3&nbsp;million

A <button class="define-target" id="pig-butchering">pig-butchering</button> operation in Myanmar has scammed victims of more than $100&nbsp;million in <a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?collection=tether" target="_blank">Tether</a> in less than two years, according to a report from Chainalysis and the anti-human trafficking organization <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Justice_Mission" target="_blank">International Justice Mission</a>.<p>Many of the workers for the romance scam group are themselves victims of human trafficking. The operation is based in a "compound" near Myanmar's border with Thailand, and researchers estimate that thousands of trafficked workers operate the scam from the "self-contained city".</p><p>The scam may put more pressure on Tether, whose role in human trafficking and high-volume romance scam operations has been scrutinized more heavily in recent months and years. Tether has frozen some assets belonging to romance scammers in the past, but remains the token of choice for many of these groups.</p>

"$100mn in crypto payments traced to Myanmar-based 'scammers'"

Myanmar-based pig-butchering scam

Myanmar-based romance scam operation pulls in $100&nbsp;million in less than two years

When businessman Kow Seng Chai transferred AU$99,500 (~US$65,000) to a cryptocurrency account on the Australian OTCPro cryptocurrency trading platform on January 25, he received an unexpected windfall thanks to an extra 0 erroneously added to the amount. When he saw the AU$995,000 ($650,000) in his account, he set to work, cashing out the excess funds through multiple withdrawals of the maximum amount.<p>OTCPro didn't notice their error until February 4, by which point Chai had already disappeared. They were able to recoup some funds that Chai had left in the OTCPro account, putting their total loss at around AU$490,000 (US$320,000).</p><p>A judge issued an injunction to try to prevent Chai from leaving the country, and issued a freeze on his assets. However, a freeze may be ineffective depending on if and how Chai has laundered the funds.</p>

"Victorian man vanishes after receiving about $500,000 in cryptocurrency account error"

Kow Seng Chai disappearance

Australian disappears with more than US$585,000 erroneously transferred to his cryptocurrency account by OTCPro

Jeff "Jihoz" Zirlin, a co-founder of the <i>Axie Infinity</i> blockchain game, lost around $9.5&nbsp;million as two of his crypto wallets were compromised. The thief stole 3,248&nbsp;ETH ($9.5&nbsp;million), which they quickly laundered with the Tornado Cash cryptocurrency <button class="define-target" id="tumbler">mixer</button>.<p>Some were briefly concerned that <i>Axie Infinity's</i> Ronin Bridge had been hacked (<a href="https://www.web3isgoinggreat.com/?id=axie-infinity-suffers-625-million-exploit" target="_blank">again</a>), since the funds moved out of the <button class="define-target" id="bridge">bridge</button>. Jihoz and others were quick to emphasize that the bridge had not been affected, and it was simply a personal wallet compromise.</p>

Jihoz Zirlin wallet hack

<i>Axie Infinity</i> co-founder suffers $9.5&nbsp;million loss after wallet compromise

I might otherwise skip over news of a $170,000 hack, given how commonly thefts of that scale happen in the crypto world, but with a name like this... come on.<p>One thing that keeps me from ever trying my hand as a crypto project hacker is that if I made $170,000 from exploiting a project called "DeezNutz_404", I would immediately be caught because I wouldn't be able to resist telling everyone I know that I'd just made enough money to not have to work for a couple years by exploiting <i>deez nuts</i>.</p><p>Anyway, there was a bug in their code that allowed an attacker to mint infinite tokens and steal around 58.65&nbsp;ETH (~$170,000).</p>

Event	Date	Amount More info	Recovered More info
Peraire-Bueno MEV indictment	May 15, 2024	$25,000,000
Sonne Finance hack	May 14, 2024	$20,000,000
ALEX XLink bridge theft	May 14, 2024	$6,300,000
Cypher contributor theft	May 13, 2024	$316,294
GNUS.ai exploi	May 5, 2024	$1,270,000
0x1E227 address poisoning	May 3, 2024	$72,700,000	$65,500,000
Pike Finance hacks	April 30, 2024	$2,000,000
Rain cryptocurrency exchange hacked for $14.8 million	April 29, 2024	$14,800,000
Jay Mazini sentenced	April 24, 2024	$8,000,000
ZKasino rug pull	April 20, 2024	$33,000,000
Hedgey Finance hack	April 19, 2024	$44,700,000
Grand Base theft	April 15, 2024	$1,972,305
DCA Fund collapse	April 12, 2024	$65,000,000
Australian NGS Crypto mining fund collapses	April 12, 2024	$42,000,000
STFIL investigation	April 9, 2024	$23,000,000
MuskSwap exit scam	April 8, 2024	$5,100,000
Rug pull token	April 3, 2024	$28,878
Solana drain attacks	March 30, 2024	at least $500,000
Prisma Finance hack	March 28, 2024	$12,000,000
Munchables hack	March 26, 2024	$62,500,000	$62,500,000
LENX rug pull	March 26, 2024	$10,000,000
Curio hack	March 25, 2024	$16,000,000
Lucky Star Currency rug pull #2	March 22, 2024	$297,000
Super Sushi Samurai exploit	March 21, 2024	$4,600,000	$4,255,000
TICKER rug pull	March 21, 2024	$900,000
Dolomite exchange hack	March 20, 2024	$1,800,000
AirDAO exploit	March 20, 2024	$551,540
Slerf memecoin meltdown only adds to mania	March 18, 2024	$10,000,000
Remilia Collective reports multi-million dollar hack	March 16, 2024	$5,999,945
Ansem Twitter impersonator	March 16, 2024	$2,600,000
Wilder World theft	March 16, 2024	$1,800,000
Mozaic exploit	March 15, 2024	$2,000,000	$1,800,000
MOBOX exploit	March 14, 2024	$750,000
ether.fi phishing	March 13, 2024	$2,025,000
Massachusetts crypto romance scam	March 13, 2024	$2,300,000
Incognito Market exit scam	March 11, 2024	$10,000,000 – $30,000,000
February 2024 Twitter phishing	March 10, 2024	$42,363,781
Unizen hack	March 8, 2024	$2,100,000
WOOFi hack	March 5, 2024	$8,750,000
AI Protocol theft and burn	March 1, 2024	$4,300,000
Seneca Protocol bug	February 28, 2024	$6,400,000	$5,200,000
Shido contract exploit	February 28, 2024	$3,300,000
Serenity Shield hack	February 27, 2024	$586,000
BitForex withdrawals	February 26, 2024	$57,000,000
MicroStrategy Twitter hack	February 26, 2024	$440,000
RiskOnBlast gambling platform rug pulls for $1.3 million	February 25, 2024	$13,250,000
Myanmar-based pig-butchering scam	February 25, 2024	$100,000,000
Kow Seng Chai disappearance	February 24, 2024	$650,000	$330,000
Jihoz Zirlin wallet hack	February 22, 2024	$9,500,000
DeezNutz_404 hack	February 22, 2024	$170,000