Crypto CEO falls victim to latest Twitter hack – Cryptopolitan
Arthur Madrid, co-founder and CEO of The Sandbox, a Metaverse project, was the victim of a Twitter account hack on May 26. Madrid informed The Sandbox users of the incident in a post after recovering their account. The hacker allegedly used the crypto CEO’s account to promote a fraudulent “airdrop” phishing scam.
Madrid warned users not to click on suspicious links related to an airdrop or on deceptive-looking URLs. Four hours before Madrid’s post, The Sandbox’s official Twitter account also issued an alert, stating that a scammer had taken control of the account and was using a phishing link to promote a fake airdrop of SAND tokens.
The screenshot of the scam post shared by The Sandbox showed an advertisement for a SAND token airdrop and urged users to verify their eligibility and request the tokens on a website with a different URL than the official one. The Sandbox team confirmed that they are actively working to remove the scam site and fix the issue as soon as possible. At 20:26 UTC, the suspected scam page was shut down, displaying a 404 error.
Phishing attacks are on the rise in the crypto industry
Phishing attacks are becoming increasingly common in the cryptocurrency community. On May 19, a scam service dubbed “Inferno Drainer” was discovered on Telegram, which hires website builders to create numerous phishing scam sites. It had reportedly stolen almost $6 million from users before being exposed.
According to a report by cybersecurity company Kaspersky, 2022 saw a 40% increase in these types of attacks compared to the previous year
Phishing attacks are an ongoing problem in the cryptocurrency industry, targeting individuals and businesses alike. These attacks typically aim to trick users into revealing their sensitive information, such as login credentials or private keys, by impersonating legitimate platforms or services.
The incident The involvement in Arthur Madrid and The Sandbox is a clear example of how attackers exploit social media platforms to fool users. By compromising Madrid’s Twitter account, the attacker gained access to a large audience and used it to promote a fake airdrop scam. Airdrops, in which free tokens are distributed to eligible participants, are a common marketing tactic in the crypto space. Attackers take advantage of this popularity by creating deceptive airdrop campaigns to trick unsuspecting users into providing their personal information or transferring money.