Fake Crypto Airdrop: Tether’s CEO Warns Of Ongoing Supply Chain Email Exploit

As an experienced analyst in the crypto industry, I have seen my fair share of scams and phishing attacks. The recent wave of supply chain email scams targeting investors in the community is a reminder that no one is immune to these types of threats.


Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether, has warned the cryptocurrency community about a new round of phishing emails disguised as supply chain notices. He strongly advises everyone to practice heightened vigilance until the situation is addressed.

Exciting News: It’s A Scam!

On Wednesday, it was reported that some members of the crypto community received suspicious emails. In these emails, crypto companies allegedly announced an impending token airdrop as an invitation for investment.

As an analyst, I’d rephrase it as follows: I recently received an email from Bitfinex with some exciting news. In the email, they announced an upcoming ERC20 airdrop of their new $BFX token for all Bitfinex users. The reason behind this airdrop is the recent approval of Ethereum spot exchange-traded funds (ETFs) by regulatory bodies.

The email contained a “claim your reward here” button that directed users to a site requesting access to their digital wallets. Although some found the message questionable due to its origin from the crypto company’s verified email address, many investors were hesitant to label it as fraudulent.

Fake Crypto Airdrop: Tether’s CEO Warns Of Ongoing Supply Chain Email Exploit

The lookalike website was swiftly exposed as a fraud after undergoing scrutiny from the community. A user identified as X attempted to access the site with an emptied digital wallet, only to discover that they did not qualify for the airdrop.

When using Rabby Wallet’s watch-only feature with a VB wallet, the user discovered that all their ETH would be transferred to another wallet instead of receiving an airdrop. Upon checking, they found that the destination wallet was empty. This observation implies that the scammer might have created a new wallet for each victim.

As a researcher, I verified the hypothesis by conducting an experiment using a second digital wallet. Employing this method would complicate the process of identifying the number of affected individuals and the amount of funds involved in the transaction.

Multiple users have shared experiences of receiving suspicious emails from Coinbase requesting verification of secondary email addresses. One such email contained racist language, falsely claiming that the crypto exchange was closing down and threatening loss of funds unless users authorized withdrawals to these secondary addresses.

As a researcher examining an unusual email I received, I noticed that it appeared to originate from Coinbase’s official domain. Nevertheless, I was concerned since the content of the message was not authorized by the company. The sender made use of offensive racial slurs and inadvertently revealed personal information about himself, which is a clear violation of acceptable online behavior.

Paolo Ardoino Warns Of Ongoing Crypto Scam

The CEO of Tether and Bitfinex, Paolo Ardoino, spoke out about a concerning issue in a recent post. According to his announcement, he received information from reliable sources stating that a well-known supplier for cryptocurrency businesses had experienced a security incident.

As a researcher investigating this matter, I’ve discovered that an unidentified vendor holds the reins for managing the mailing lists of various prominent crypto firms. In related news, Bobby Ong, COO of CoinGecko, has issued a warning to users regarding an ongoing email attack on our community.

Caution is advised for several cryptocurrency firms as they could potentially receive mass emails advertising false token launches. Be on the lookout for suspicious email newsletters in the near future.

As a researcher studying the recent security incident affecting CoinGecko, I want to clarify some misconceptions. Although our system experienced a breach, I’d like to assure everyone that our website and mobile app remain unaffected and secure for usage. Furthermore, I would like to dispel rumors: CoinGecko is not launching any new tokens at this time, and we have no plans for such developments in the near future.

As a researcher studying cybersecurity threats in the crypto industry, I’ve come across previous instances of supply chain email attacks. One notable incident occurred in January when scammers managed to drain approximately $600,000 from unsuspecting investors. They achieved this by sending unauthorized emails from various crypto-related companies, which appeared trustworthy and authentic.

At that point, it came to light that an individual from the customer support team of the exploited vendor had been identified as the first weak link in the security chain. Currently, no authoritative sources have disclosed information regarding impacted users or financial losses.

Fake Crypto Airdrop: Tether’s CEO Warns Of Ongoing Supply Chain Email Exploit

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2024-06-06 00:05