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MetaMask, Phantom Wallet Users Targeted in Crypto Phishing Scam: Report

The scam campaigns, which imitated popular crypto wallet websites like Metamask, have resulted in losses of at least $500,000.

Updated May 11, 2023, 5:51 p.m. Published Nov 4, 2021, 1:27 p.m.

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Users of crypto wallets MetaMask and Phantom, as well as the crypto swap platform PancakeSwap, have been targeted in a crypto phishing scam involving at least half a million dollars being stolen, according to a Check Point Research (CPR) report.

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CPR said that in the past few days there have been “multiple events” in which hundreds of crypto wallet users have had their funds stolen while trying to download and install well-known wallets like Metamask or change their currencies on crypto swap platforms such as PancakeSwap or Uniswap.
The scam campaigns used search engine advertisements to target crypto wallet users. They then employed fake URLs and websites to allow scammers to steal wallet passwords and access crypto funds held in wallets, said CPR.
The report gives an example of how an attacker uses a Google ad campaign to steal the user’s private key and access their MetaMask wallet by giving them a phrase that allows them to steal the funds upon transfer.
CPR advised crypto wallet users to “refrain from clicking on ads and only use direct, known URLs.”

MetaMask Wallets Scams

Tanzeel Akhtar

Tanzeel Akhtar has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes Africa, Financial Times, The Street, Citywire, Investing.com, Euromoney, Yahoo! Finance, Benzinga, Kitco News, African Business Magazine, Hedge Week, Campden Family Office, Modern Investor, Spear's Wealth Management Magazine, Global Investor, ETF.com, ETF Stream, CIO UK, Funds Global Asia, Portfolio Institutional, Interactive Investor, Bitcoin Magazine, CryptoNews.com, Bitcoin.com, The Local, The Next Web, Mining Journal, Money Marketing, Marketing Week and more. Tanzeel trained as a foreign correspondent at the University of Helsinki, Finland and newspaper journalist at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She holds a BA (Honours) in English Literature from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK and completed a semester abroad as an ERASMUS student at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is NCTJ Qualified - Media Law, Public Administration and passed the Shorthand 100WPM with distinction. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.