Bill Lou, CEO and co-founder of Nest Wallet, an application focused on cryptocurrency security, recently shared a traumatic experience with phishing on X. He revealed that he was the victim of a scam that resulted in the loss of 52 stETH, which has a value of approximately US$ 125,000.
This phishing scam revolved around the supposed airdrop of the LFG token (acronym for “less fees and gas”), which promised to reward Ethereum users who had spent more than $4,269 in transaction fees since 2016. The goal was to lure these users to the Solana blockchain. However, a fake website posing as the official LFG token platform has emerged, aiming to deceive users and steal their funds. Bill Lou, unfortunately, was one of those victims.
Lou fell for the scam when he clicked on an article link that appeared at the top of Google search results. This led him to the fraudulent website. He admitted to using MetaMask, rather than Nest Wallet, for the claim, as he was working on fixing bugs in a test version of Nest. Lou highlighted that if he had used Nest Wallet’s cryptocurrency transaction simulation functionality, he perhaps could have avoided the phishing scam, as MetaMask does not fully offer this functionality.
I’m devastated guys…
I just got scammed out of $125k of stEth while trying to claim the $LFG airdrop. And I’m a fking founder of a wallet startup that’s trying to improve wallet security…
I can’t believe this is happening, I’ve always been so careful. I saw article guide to… pic.twitter.com/x56HR2z8xK
— Bill Lou (@BillLou95) January 2, 2024
Bill Lou gives advice to the crypto community
In response to the incident, Lou advised users to always check the authenticity of links and to consider multisig wallets for added security. This type of scam has become increasingly common, with other users reporting similar losses after clicking on fraudulent links.
The LFG project, for its part, recognized the problem and issued a warning against fraudulent accounts impersonating them. They urged users to report these accounts and provided details of their official X account and website for verification. As such, the LFG project plans to distribute 400 billion LFG tokens to 387,000 eligible wallets, with unclaimed tokens scheduled to be burned after one month.
The Growth of Cryptocurrency Phishing Scams
Thus, phishing scams continue to be a major threat in the cryptocurrency space. By 2023, it is estimated that more than 324,000 cryptocurrency users have fallen victim to these scams, resulting in losses of approximately $295 million in digital assets.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed by the author, or anyone mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment or other advice. Investing or trading cryptocurrencies carries a risk of financial loss.
Source: https://portalcripto.com.br/cofundador-da-nest-wallet-vitima-de-golpe-de-phishing-em-criptomoedas/
