Crypto traders lost nearly $300 million in 2023 due to rising phishing scams

• Almost $300 million worth of crypto assets were stolen from more than 320,000 wallets, according to Scam Sniffer.
• A new form of malware, “wallet drainers,” is the cause of the majority of these phishing attacks.
• The Inferno Drainer scam alone accounts for about 27.5% of the entire amount of phishing theft.

With 2024 expected to be a bullish year, the number of scams and attempts and, if not prevented, the losses would be exceptional, too. But as much as it is the developers' responsibility to ensure that their protocol is technically sound, it also falls on the people to make sure that they remain alert towards any suspicious activity.

Crypto investors at blame this time

According to Scam Sniffer's 2023 report, phishing scams resulted in the loss of almost $300 million throughout the year. This theft impacted more than 320,000 wallets as they were all hit by a new type of malware known as "wallet drainers".

Phishing scam victims and funds

Per Scam Sniffer, this malware is deployed onto phishing websites in order to trick users into approving malicious transactions. This results in the scammers stealing their assets from the users' cryptocurrency wallets. 

Throughout 2023, multiple wallet drainers popped up, with Monkey Drainer being the first to come into the spotlight. Although following their exposure, they announced their departure, having already stolen over $16 million.

The biggest hit, however, was conducted by Inferno Drainer, which managed to steal over $81 million from 134,000 victims in less than ten months. Their theft accounts for about 27% of the entire amount of money stolen over the course of the past 12 months.

List of wallet drainers active in 2023

Hacks and exploits tend to impact an entire community along with the project and developers at the same time, making it easy to react and shut down the malpractice. But with phishing scams, it is much more difficult to put an end to since the scammers are in direct communication with users who tend not to be technologically sound.

Hence, the need for awareness regarding such scams is paramount going forward.

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