Cryptocurrency phishing grows by 40 percent in one year

Woburn, MA – March 29, 2023 – Today Kaspersky announced that its anti-phishing systems have prevented 5 million cryptocurrency-related phishing attacks in 2022, an increase of 40 percent compared to the previous year. Conversely, there was a decrease in the detection of traditional financial threats, such as banking and mobile financial malware. These and other findings are in Kaspersky’s latest financial threats report.

Kaspersky observed 5,040,520 detections of crypto phishing in 2022, compared to 3,596,437 in 2021. This data correlates with users’ experiences with cryptocurrency threats explored by Kaspersky earlier this year, when every seventh person surveyed said they were affected by cryptocurrency phishing.

Although most crypto scams feature traditional tricks such as giveaways or fake wallet phishing pages, a recent active fraudulent scheme discovered by Kaspersky shows scammers are constantly coming up with new techniques to ensure their success. In this campaign, the user receives a PDF file in English by email, stating that they allegedly registered on a cryptocurrency cloud mining platform a long time ago and need to urgently withdraw a lot of crypts since their account is inactive. The file contains a link to a fake mining platform. To withdraw the crypt, the user must fill out a form with personal information, including the card or account number, and pay a commission, in this case, through a crypto wallet or directly to the specified wallet address.

An example of active crypto fraudulent scheme that occurred in February 2023

“Despite some problems that have occurred in the cryptocurrency market over the past six months, in the minds of many people, crypto still remains a symbol of getting rich quick with minimal effort,” said Olga Svistunova, security expert at Kaspersky. “Therefore, the flow of scammers parasitizing in this field does not dry out. In order to lure victims into their networks, these scammers continue to come up with new and more interesting stories.”

To learn more about the state of financial threats in 2022, visit Securelist.com.

Find more details about the new cryptocurrency scam on Kaspersky Daily.

To maximize the benefits of using cryptocurrency safely, Kaspersky experts also recommend:

-          Be cautious of phishing scams: Scammers often use phishing emails or fake websites to trick people into revealing their login credentials or private keys. Always double-check the URL of the website and don't click on any suspicious links.

-          Don’t share your private keys: your private keys unlock your cryptocurrency wallet. Keep them private and never share them with anyone.

-          Educate yourself: stay informed about the latest cyber threats and best practices to keep your cryptocurrency safe. The more you know about protecting yourself, the better equipped you’ll be to prevent cyber-attacks.

-          Research before investing: before investing in any cryptocurrency, research the project and the team behind it thoroughly. Check the project’s website, white paper, and social media channels to ensure that the project is legitimate.

-          Use security solutions: a reliable security solution will protect your devices from various types of threats. Kaspersky Premium  prevents all known and unknown cryptocurrency fraud, as well as unauthorized use of your computer's processing power to mine cryptocurrency.

 

About Kaspersky

Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity and digital privacy company founded in 1997. Kaspersky’s deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into innovative security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments, and consumers around the globe. The company’s comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies, and we help 240,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. Learn more at usa.kaspersky.com.

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Sawyer Van Horn

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