Hackers Siphon over $313m in Crypto Scams in August-Report

Hackers exploited the cryptocurrency industry in August, stealing over $313 million through various scams, with phishing attacks being the primary method of theft.

This significant increase in losses was highlighted in a report by blockchain security firm Peckshield, which shared the data on their social media platform X.

According to Peckshield, more than ten high-profile hacks occurred in August, contributing to the substantial financial losses. The report also detailed the types of scams responsible for the thefts.

“#PeckShieldAlert August 2024 witnessed 10+ hacks in the crypto space, resulting in ~$313.86 million in losses. The two largest hacks, both involving unauthorized transfers (#Phishing), accounted for 93.5% of the total stolen funds, amounting to $293.4 million,” Peckshield tweeted.

The top five hacks in August included a $238 million phishing scam involving Bitcoin, a $55.4 million phishing scam involving DAI, a $12 million breach on the Ronin Network (which was returned by white hat hackers), an unauthorized transfer of $5.1 million, and a $1.83 million exploit targeting Nexera.

These figures represent an 18% increase in the total assets lost to bad actors compared to July, when $266 million was stolen across 16 hacking events targeting crypto and decentralized finance companies.

Peckshield’s report further revealed that hackers primarily targeted crypto whales, individuals or entities holding large amounts of cryptocurrency whose actions can significantly impact market prices.

The most substantial loss in August involved a crypto whale who lost 4,064 Bitcoin, worth approximately $238 million, to a phishing attack on August 19. The stolen funds were moved to various crypto platforms, including THORChain, KuCoin, and Railgun.

Another significant attack involved a crypto whale losing over $55 million worth of DAI stablecoin to a phishing scam. On August 6th, the Ronin Network faced an unauthorized transfer of 4,000 ETH, valued at about $10 million. Fortunately, this attack was orchestrated by white hat hackers, who returned the funds and informed the network of the vulnerability they had exploited.

Other notable incidents included an unauthorized transaction of $5.1 million and an exploit targeting Nexera, resulting in a $1.8 million loss, rounding out the top five largest hacks of the month.

Phishing scams remain the most prevalent type of crypto fraud, along with pig butchering schemes, rug pulls, and exit scams. Phishing typically involves using cloned websites to fraudulently acquire users’ password details. These tactics are also common in broader internet fraud, including business email compromise (BEC) scams.

Pig butchering scams are more prolonged schemes where scammers build long-term relationships with their victims before persuading them to invest in fraudulent schemes, resulting in the loss of their crypto assets.