Amid the hype surrounding the launch of the metaverse from the creators of BAYC, Malwarebytes Labs released a report in which they talked about a significant increase in phishing airdrops.
Airdrop phishing technique
Airdrop phishing is becoming increasingly popular among crypto and non-fungible token (NFT) fraudsters, according to cyber security experts.
Airdrops are a vital marketing tactic for projects and startups in the cryptocurrency and NFT space. The method entails delivering tokens or cryptocurrencies to the wallets of users, who are commonly project participants or holders, in order to raise investor awareness.
According to Malwarebytes, the most popular airdrop phishing strategies involve the use of malicious websites appearing as real platforms, and “Apes are, of course, the hottest draw in town where Airdrop phishing is concerned.”
The report indicates that the “variety of fake pages out there” reflects specifically the interest around the popular Bored Apes Yacht Club.
A phishing website may make extremely profitable promises, such as a free mint of popular NFTs. Typically, when attempting to obtain your prized token, a fake site may request your passwords and recovery phrases:
“Does this really sound like something you want to hand over your recovery phrase to?” – experts ask readers.
The “Connect your wallet” Airdrop scam
Furthermore, Malwarebytes cautions about the growth of the “connect your wallet” airdrop scam, in which Twitter accounts with large followings pose as popular projects such as the Moonbirds project, which offers NFT airdrops.
As the crypto community becomes aware of and reports such scams, the thieves tend to disable replies to their tweets to avoid being unmasked. The official verified Moonbirds account cautioned about the imposters in this case.
Malwarebytes’ recommendation is consistent with basic security tips to avoid saying “yes” to everything a website requests, saying:
“If you start granting permissions, or signing transactions, you may find your wallet draining of funds.”
The Malwarebytes team confirms the previously discussed hype around the scandalous launch of Otherdeed NFTs. Earlier we wrote about how the sale of land in the metaverse from Yuga Labs led to an increase in gas fees on the Ethereum blockchain to record values, far exceeding the value of the transaction. Following the event, the collection’s creators highlighted the necessity to migrate to Ape Coin’s own blockchain, as well as a partnership with Polygon.