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FBI warns of phishing scams and social media account hijackers

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The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has warned of criminal actors hijacking social media accounts and posing as legitimate people in the nonfungible token (NFT) and crypto space.

It also raised concerns over spoof websites that dupe victims into thinking they are using legitimate platforms to steal their NFTs or crypto.

The warning comes as the number of victims having their funds drained from these two types of scamming methods continues to grow.

Recent phishing link from Uniswap founder Hayden Adams’ X account by hackers. Source: X (Twitter)

In an Aug. 4 public service announcement, The FBI urged people to be aware of “criminal actors posing as legitimate NFT developers in financial fraud schemes targeting active users within the NFT community.”

“Criminals either gain direct access to NFT developer social media accounts or create almost identical accounts to promote new NFT releases. Fraudulent posts often aim to create a sense of urgency, using phrases like ‘limited supply,’ and refer to the promotion as a ‘surprise’ or previously unannounced mint.”

“Links provided in these announcements are phishing links directing victims to a spoofed website that appears to be a legitimate extension of a particular NFT project,” the FBI added.

Generally, the scam websites prompt people to connect their wallets to claim or purchase NFTs but are instead connected to a drainer smart contract, resulting in a loss of a person’s funds or assets.

However, it can sometimes be more complicated than that. There are some other ways that people can have their funds drained even when not directly choosing to connect their wallet to a suspicious website. 

In an Aug. 5 X (formerly Twitter) thread, user StockEd stated that they mistakenly clicked on a spoof LooksRare NFT marketplace website and didn’t connect their hot wallet but still had more than $300,000 worth of NFTs stolen.

Alarmingly, the fake website was promoted at the top of Google’s search results as a paid ad, which has been a long-running issue yet to be solved by Google.

There was much debate in the comments as to how the victim could have their NFTs drained without connecting their wallet.

Some argued that malware enabling access or control to the victim’s computer was at play, while others suggested the scam website may have had a hidden MetaMask wallet signature link somewhere that was accidentally clicked.

Related: Zero transfer scammer steals $20M USDT, gets blacklisted by Tether

On the same day, Web3 anti-scam platform Scam Sniffer tweeted that someone else had also lost $446,000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and Pepe (PEPE) to a phishing link.

Scam Sniffer indicated that the Pink drainer address was behind the phishing hack, while ZachXBT highlighted that it may have happened via two fake airdrop links promoted by Avalanche and QwQiao — two accounts that were hijacked over the previous 24 hours.

In the FBI’s warning, it outlined a handful of tips for people to protect themselves from these types of scams.

The FBI emphasized that people should research and “vet any opportunity,” such as surprise NFT drops or giveaways, before clicking on links. It also urged people to double-check for any discrepancies in website URLs or account names to avoid falling victim to impersonators.

Magazine: Deposit risk: What do crypto exchanges really do with your money?

Cryptocurrency

Here’s Why Bitcoin Could Rally Soon Despite the Negative Coinbase Premium: CryptoQuant

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A key metric that indicates US investors’ interest in bitcoin turned negative on Friday.

Experts, however, believe that this flip could positively affect BTC’s price.

Coinbase Bitcoin Premium Records Negative Value

According to a report by a CryptoQuant analyst, the Coinbase Premium recently recorded a significant negative value. The Coinbase Premium Index is an indicator that measures the percentage difference between the price of bitcoin on Coinbase Pro and Binance.

Coinbase Pro is popular among crypto traders in the United States as well as several institutional investors while Binance, the largest crypto exchange by trading volume, caters to a more global audience. Thus, the index provides insight into the trading behaviors of users on both platforms.

Historically, positive Coinbase Premium values typically suggest strong buying pressure from U.S. investors. On the other hand, a negative shift in the index indicates a decline in demand for bitcoin from U.S. investors.

BTC Remains Stable as Buying Pressure on Binance Surges

Per the data, despite waning demand from US investors, bitcoin’s price has remained stable, indicating “that there is strong buying pressure occurring on Binance.”

The CryptoQuant analyst pointed out that bitcoin’s price could see a massive surge if demand for the digital assets increases across global markets. The present market movement hints that it might happen soon.

“For Bitcoin’s price to see a significant increase, buying pressure needs to expand beyond the U.S., driven by FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) across global markets. This movement is quite positive,” the analyst said.

Bitcoin has continued to rally following the US Fed interest rate cut on Wednesday. The leading cryptocurrency briefly crossed $64,000 earlier today for the first time since last month.

The crypto asset has briefly retracted and is now trading at $62,800 at press time. If the upward trend continues, bitcoin could retest its all-time highs, and there are several bullish factors going its way. You can find more of this here.

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Bitcoin Pumps to $64K, Fed Cuts Rates, Saylor Buys More BTC: This Week’s Recap

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There’s been no shortage of news over the past seven days. During this period, the total cryptocurrency market capitalization managed to add close to $140 billion. This happened on the back of significant gains charted by the majority of coins, so let’s take a closer look.

First things first, the long-anticipated rate cut is now a fact. The US Federal Reserve announced on Wednesday that it is decreasing interest rates by 0.5%, a considerable move that sent ripples across all financial markets, and crypto was no exception.

Bitcoin’s price exploded on the news and reached $64K on the day after. This brings its total gains for the weeks to 7.9%, at the time of this writing. It’s worth noting that the bulls were unable to sustain the positive momentum and the sellers are currently attempting to push the price back toward $62,000. It’s worth keeping an eye on the markets over the weekend when the liquidity is generally thinner and smaller sums can cause larger moves.

That said, one of Bitcoin’s most vocal proponents didn’t fail to surprise us.

Michael Saylor announced Friday another whopping Bitcoin buy. His company – MicroStrategy – bought $460 million worth of BTC priced at $61,750. The company is currently sitting on paper profits of almost $6 billion. That’s a 60% gain. Diamond hand Saylor, indeed.

Elsewhere, in unfortunate news, the popular Singapore-based crypto exchange BingX has apparently been hacked. One of its hot wallets was compromised, leading to a reported loss of around $52 million.

All in all, the week has been favorable for most of the altcoins as well. Ethereum has gained 6.3%, BNB – 3.5%, SOL – 10.%, and so forth. Of course, there are those which failed to capitalize on the move such as XRP, which is only up 1.8%, DOGE, which is actually losing 0.8% during the week and so forth.

With the US Federal Reserve staying true to its word and essentially reversing its fiscal approach, as well as the incoming presidential elections in November, we’re sure in for a wild ride in the next couple of months!

Market Data

Market Cap: $2.278T | 24H Vol: $107B | BTC Dominance: 54.4%

BTC: $62,629(+7.9%) | ETH: $2,522(+6.3%) | BNB: $565 (+3.5%)

market_update_cover

This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Better Not Miss

Federal Reserve Announces 0.5% Interest Rate Cut, Bitcoin Soars Above $60K. The long-anticipated rate cut is finally here! The US Federal Reserve decreased the rates by 0.5% in the first reduction in more or less four years. The markets reacted positively to the news, with the BTC price surging to $64K after it.

MicroStrategy to Raise Another $700M, Might Buy More Bitcoin. The largest corporate Bitcoin HODLer, MicroStrategy, announced plans to raise another $700 million. Although $500 million of that will be used to pay off existing debt and redeem outstanding senior secured notes, the remaining might go for buying more BTC.

Singapore Crypto Exchange BingX Suffers Hot Wallet Exploit, Over $52M Reportedly Stolen. Popular Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange BingX suffered a hot wallet exploit. The attack affected several blockchains. Experts are estimating the total loss to be over $52 million. Withdrawals and transfers have been suspended.

Solana Reveals Details of Its New Seeker Crypto Smartphone. After the success of its previous iteration, Solana has introduced a new smartphone called “Solana Seeker.” It’s designed as a Web3 device and combines interesting hardware decisions in conjunction with specialized software.

All These Central Banks May Cut Rates Soon: Bitcoin (BTC) Price to $100K? The US Federal Reserve has announced its decision to cut interest rates, and many other central banks are expected to follow suit. Many believe this will spell good news for Bitcoin and the rest of the cryptocurrency market.

3 Bullish Signals for Bitcoin’s Price as Uptober Approaches. October is traditionally a good month for Bitcoin. It’s no coincidence that many in the community are referring to it as “Uptober.” Here are three bullish signals that may provide for additional increases in Bitcoin’s price.

Charts

This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Solana – click here for the complete price analysis.

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Disclaimer: Information found on CryptoPotato is those of writers quoted. It does not represent the opinions of CryptoPotato on whether to buy, sell, or hold any investments. You are advised to conduct your own research before making any investment decisions. Use provided information at your own risk. See Disclaimer for more information.

Cryptocurrency charts by TradingView.

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Cryptocurrency

TON’s Daily Active Addresses Exceed Leading L1 Blockchains Like Bitcoin, Ethereum

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The Open Network (TON) has continued to record outstanding growth as the protocol recently saw its active addresses outperform leading blockchains in the industry.

According to data from the market intelligence platform IntoTheBlock, the number of daily active TON addresses surged to 3 million in the first week of September.

Per the data, this figure exceeded the number of active addresses recorded on major Layer 1 networks, including Bitcoin and Ethereum. TON’s popularity over the past few months has attracted increasing attention from developers, investors, and users alike, further solidifying its position as a rising contender in the blockchain space.

USDT Trading Volume on TON Surges

In addition to the growing number of active addresses, TON has experienced an increase in on-chain trading volumes, especially in the stablecoins market.

The blockchain is currently among the top networks with the highest USDT trading volumes. According to IntoTheBlock, TON recorded an impressive $1.2 billion USDT trading volume, with 1.5 million unique holders on Sept. 9.

Tron, however, remains the biggest blockchain for USDT trading, with a trading volume of $98.1 billion recorded on Sept. 9. It was followed by Ethereum with $34.3 billion.

According to analysts, the surge in TON’s USDT trading highlights growing interest and adoption among TON users. Earlier in April, Tether, the issuer of USDT, launched the stablecoin on TON.

The Biggest Growth Opportunity

The rapid adoption of popular TON-based decentralized applications (dApps) like Hamster Kombat and Notcoin has contributed significantly to the network’s growth. These tap-to-earn projects have increased user activity on the TON blockchain over the past few months.

Consequently, TON received a $30 million investment from crypto exchange Bitget and Foresight Ventures yesterday to boost the development of tap-to-earn projects.

As the network’s popularity continues to soar, market experts believe that the TON ecosystem is “the biggest growth opportunity” in the crypto market this year.

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