Crypto phishing losses plunged in 2025, but experts warn the threat has only changed shape rather than disappeared. Reports show a sharp fall in money stolen by wallet-draining scams, even as attackers tested new tricks tied to recent protocol changes. Related Reading: Bitcoin Dominance Grows As Altcoins Post Another Losing Year: Analyst Scam Sniffer Data Shows Drop According to Scam Sniffer’s 2025 analysis, wallet drainer phishing losses fell to about $83.85 million — an 83% decline from roughly $494 million in 2024. The number of affected wallets dropped to around 106,000, a fall of about 68% year-on-year. These figures come from the security platform’s annual study and were picked up by major crypto outlets. Attackers Shift, Not Stop Only 11 incidents topped $1 million in 2025, down from 30 the prior year, signaling fewer headline grabs but a rise in smaller hits. The largest single theft recorded last year was roughly $6.5 million, tied to a malicious Permit signature attack. Average losses per victim fell to roughly $790, which suggests attackers moved toward more frequent, lower-value strikes. Market Moves Mattered Losses followed market activity. The third quarter logged the highest damage at about $31 million, when Ethereum’s rally brought more users and approvals onchain. Monthly peaks included August, which posted about $12.17 million, while December was the quietest with roughly $2 million. That pattern shows fraudsters target busy trading windows. 1/ Ever woken up to an empty crypto wallet? With scammers draining $107K+ across EVM chains JUST THIS WEEK (per @zachxbt), it’s scarier than ever! Shoutout to @realscamsniffer for their 2025 report – losses down 83%, but threats are evolving FAST. Let’s recap & warn on 2026… https://t.co/uSerpsg80d — JP (@rugpullfinder) January 3, 2026 Permit Signatures And New Vectors Reports highlighted Permit and Permit2 signature abuses as a major driver of big losses, accounting for a large share of multi-million cases. Scam Sniffer also flagged EIP-7702 batch signature techniques that were used in a few complex attacks after network upgrades. Security teams say these methods exploit user approval flows rather than raw smart-contract bugs. Why The Drop Happened Analysts attribute much of the improvement to better wallet warnings, wider use of approval revocation tools, and more active tracking by onchain monitors. Some defenders also point to reduced market froth in parts of the year, which lowered the pool of high-value targets. Still, multiple outlets stress that reduced totals do not equal safety. Related Reading: A Maduro Bet, A Market Alarm: US Lawmaker Targets Trading Abuses Based on reports, phishing will likely remain cyclical: losses could spike again during big rallies or when new signing features are introduced. Security firms urge users to check approvals, avoid blind signing, and use wallet tools that flag risky requests. Regulators and exchanges are watching the trend, but responsibility for many attacks still falls to individual users and wallet software. Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView
This year’s defining security event was not a sophisticated DeFi exploit or a novel protocol failure, but the $1.46 billion theft from Bybit, a top-tier centralized exchange. That single event, attributed to sophisticated state-sponsored actors, rewrote the narrative of the year. It proved that while the frequency of attacks has dropped, the severity of the […]
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The defendant reportedly told friends he lost $6 million gambling on crypto, and went by "@lolimfeelingevil" on Telegram.
Security issues like data breaches and phishing attacks are a type of feedback for Web3 designers, argues Tools for Humanity’s Adrian Ludwig.
The hacker who drained UXLINK in a high-profile exploit has ironically become a victim of crypto crime himself. On Sept. 23, blockchain security platform Scam Sniffer reported that the attacker lost roughly 542 million UXLINK tokens, valued at more than $50 million, to a phishing scheme executed by another bad actor. SlowMist co-founder Yu Xian […]
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An unidentified crypto investor has lost over $3 million in a highly coordinated phishing attack after unknowingly authorizing a malicious contract. On Sept. 11, blockchain investigator ZachXBT first flagged the incident, revealing that the victim’s wallet was drained of $3.047 million in USDC. The attacker quickly swapped the stablecoins for Ethereum and funneled the proceeds […]
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Around 80% of the top 10 largest holders of World Liberty Financial’s WLFI token took profits within a day of the asset’s launch. On Sept. 2, pseudonymous blockchain analyst Aixpta reported that eight of the top ten WLFI holders had either partially or fully sold their positions. According to the analysis, only the second and […]
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Venus Protocol temporarily suspended its platform on Sept. 2 after a user lost tens of millions of dollars in a targeted phishing incident. The pause followed reports from blockchain security firm Cyvers, which flagged a suspicious transaction draining nearly $27 million from a single wallet. According to reports, the stolen assets included $19.8 million in […]
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Welcome to Slate Sundays, CryptoSlate’s new weekly feature showcasing in-depth interviews, expert analysis, and thought-provoking op-eds that go beyond the headlines to explore the ideas and voices shaping the future of crypto. Crypto crime is on the rise. From the first epic hack of mighty Mt. Gox to the intricate OneCoin scam orchestrated by nefarious Bulgarian […]
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Fake CTG token pop-ups appeared on the crypto news website urging users to connect wallets.
A crypto trader lost over $2.5 million worth of Tether (USDT) after falling for the same scam twice within hours. On May 26, blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer reported that the first error occurred when the trader copied a manipulated wallet address from their transaction history. This resulted in a transfer of $843,000 to the […]
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Phishing scams targeting crypto users have become more advanced, with attackers abusing Google’s infrastructure to conduct highly convincing attacks. On April 16, Nick Johnson, the founder and lead developer of Ethereum Name Service (ENS), raised concerns over a fresh method cybercriminals use to compromise Gmail accounts and potentially target associated crypto wallets. How phishing attackers […]
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ZkLend, a decentralized lending protocol built on Starknet, has confirmed that the hacker responsible for its February exploit lost a significant portion of the stolen funds to a phishing scam. In an April 1 post on X, ZkLend revealed that the attacker tried to launder 2,930 ETH, worth around $5.4 million, through crypto mixer Tornado […]
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On March 13, hackers seemingly took control of DB, a well-known crypto news platform, using its X account to spread false information about Donald Trump’s TRUMP memecoin and a fabricated BlackRock ETF filing for Hyperliquid. The misleading posts had an immediate impact. TRUMP’s price surged by 20% before quickly collapsing, while the fake ETF news […]
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Phishing-related crypto losses fell for the third consecutive month in February, with 7,442 victims losing $5.32 million, according to data from Scam Sniffer. The security firm reported that this represents a significant 48% decline from January’s $10.25 million and December 2024’s $23.58 million. The blockchain firm pointed out that the downward trend suggests that crypto […]
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Blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer reported that crypto phishing scams drained $10.25 million from 9,220 victims in January, marking a 56% decline from December’s $23.58 million in losses. However, the report notes that the bad actors have been evolving and implementing more sophisticated attack methods. Ethereum users targeted According to Scam Sniffer, Ethereum users were […]
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Blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer warned that crypto investors are facing a surge in malware scams on social media platform Telegram compared to the traditional phishing methods. While phishing still causes substantial losses—estimated at nearly half a billion dollars in 2024—its growth has plateaued. In contrast, Scam Sniffers reported that Telegram malware scams represent a […]
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23pds, the pseudonymous Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at blockchain security firm SlowMist, has raised concerns about potential phishing attacks targeting more than seven million OpenSea users whose emails were leaked in a June 2022 breach. 23pds stated: “Remember the attack on the OpenSea mail service provider in 202[2] that led to the leakage of […]
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Crimeware-as-a-service fuels cybercrime in crypto. Explore its impact, tactics used and key steps to safeguard your wallets and transactions.
According to cybersecurity firm CertiK, the number of crypto hacks and exploits rose to 303 incidents in 2024, up from 282 in 2023.
The security incidents occurred days after a researcher discovered a critical bug in a Virtuals Protocol audited contract, which was fixed.
Cointelegraph obtained data set samples packed with sensitive information of crypto conference attendees that could be a treasure trove for scammers.
Scammers are spoofing the support email for hardware wallet maker Ledger, prompting users to share their seed phrases under the pretense of checking for a compromise.
Hardware wallet provider Ledger has linked a recent loss of funds by one of its users to a phishing attack in February 2022.
A phishing attack resulted in a crypto user losing $7.8 million worth of SolvBTC, a wrapped Bitcoin product created by Solv Protocol. On Dec. 11, blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer highlighted the incident and shed further light on the evolving sophistication of such scams. How the attack unfolded According to Scam Sniffer, the victim unknowingly […]
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An investigation into the victim of an NFT scam led the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Virtual Currency Unit to discover and dismantle a network of fake NFT marketplace sites.
“We’re hitting CEOs, CFOs, software engineers,” the brazen scammer told Casa CEO Nick Neuman: “We don’t call poor people.”
The US has laid charges against a group accused of a hacking spree, with one alleged victim being robbed of over $6.3 million worth of crypto.
A crypto whale narrowly avoided a $129 million USDT loss after falling victim to a phishing scam on the TRON blockchain. Blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer reported the incident on Nov. 20, detailing how the stolen funds were unexpectedly returned within hours. What happened? According to the firm, the scammer used a fake wallet address, […]
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According to cybersecurity firm Recorded Future, North Korean hacker groups have stolen approximately $3 billion in funds since 2017.