In recent events, a phishing address that siphoned $55.4 million in DAI from a whales account has reawakened.
PeckShieldAlert, a blockchain security firm, announced that the scammer had transferred approximately $2.7 million worth of crypto assets. This includes $1.145 million DAI and around 708 ETH, to crypto exchange eXch.
#PeckShieldAlert The #phishing address that drained 55.4M $DAI has already transferred $2.7M worth of cryptos to #eXch, including $1.145M $DAI & ~708 $ETH with the last 2 days
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) August 26, 2024
Address Activity
All transactions originated from the flagged address “Fake_Phishing442897.” The funds are being systematically transferred to various unidentified wallet addresses. While most transfers involved 21 ETH, some transactions differ in size, including notable amounts such 61 ETH and 300 ETH.
The attacker appears to prioritize moving higher sums quickly to make the recovery of the assets more difficult. Majority of these transactions took place on August 24.
Attack Origin and DAI Seizure
On August 21, Lookonchain reported the incident‘s origin, which began with the phishing attack against the whale’s account. The victim unknowingly signed a malicious transaction that resulted in ownership of the funds being transferred to the scammers address.
The address gained full control over the whales 55.47 million DAI, leaving the original holder without access. The whale attempted to withdraw funds, but the transaction failed due to the ownership shift.
Once the scammer obtained the whales DAI, they swiftly moved the assets into a newly created wallet. The attacker wasted no time converting the DAI into Ethereum through decentralized trading protocols. At the time of the report, it was confirmed that the scammer had successfully swapped 27.5 million DAI for around 10,625 ETH.
Soaring Crypto Hacks in 2024
The broader landscape of crypto security in 2024 has been equally troubling, with over 200 major hacks reported during the first half of the year, according to PeckShieldAlert. These incidents resulted in approximately $1.56 billion in losses, a staggering 293% increase from the same period in 2023, when losses amounted to $480 million.
Notably, efforts recovered about $319 million of the stolen assets. Meanwhile, DeFi protocols remained the primary targets, representing 59% of the total value stolen. Among the hardest-hit assets, Ethereum, Bitcoin, and XRP topped the list. Notably, Ethereum and BNB Chain led with 31.3% of the total hacks, with Arbitrum trailing at 12.5%.