A malicious actor behind at least $5 million in crypto theft through “address poisoning” significantly ramped up attacks against Safe Wallet users in the last week.
A crypto hacker specializing in “address poisoning attacks” has managed to steal over $2 million from Safe Wallet users alone in the past week, with its total victim count now reaching 21.
On Dec. 3, Web3 scam detection platform Scam Sniffer reported that around ten Safe Wallets lost $2.05 million to address poisoning attacks since Nov.
According to Dune Analytics data compiled by Scam Sniffer, the same attacker has reportedly stolen at least $5 million from around 21 victims in the past four months.
Scam Sniffer, reported that one of the victims even held $10 million in crypto in a Safe Wallet, but “luckily” only lost $400,000 of it.
about ~10 Safe wallets have lost $2.05 million to “address poisoning” attacks in the past week.
the same attacker has stolen $5 million from ~21 victims in the past four months so far. pic.twitter.com/fu4kxaI3py
— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) December 3, 2023
Address poisoning is when an attacker creates a similar-looking address to the one a targeted victim regularly sends funds to — usually using the same beginning and ending characters.
The hacker often sends a small amount of crypto from the newly-created wallet to the target to “poison” their transaction history.
Cointelegraph has reached out to Safe Wallet for comment on the matter.