Victims have suffered major losses due to wallet drainer attacks in 2024, with nearly $500m being drained from crypto wallets. This marks a significant 67% increase from the previous year, according to the latest report from Scam Sniffers.
The report, titled “Crypto Phishing Report 2024,” focuses on the analysis of Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM)-compatible chains to track the impact of these attacks. In 2024, an estimated $494m was lost to wallet drainers, affecting 332,000 wallet addresses. Interestingly, this only represents a 3.7% increase in the number of victims from the previous year, suggesting that cybercriminals are becoming more adept at stealing larger sums from individual victims. The largest single theft reported was a staggering $55.5m.
The report highlights 30 cases of “large-loss” incidents, where victims lost over $1m each. These cases amounted to a total of $171m, with an average loss of $5.7m per incident.
Wallet drainers are a specialized form of phishing attack that targets crypto-wallet funds instead of traditional login credentials. Victims are often deceived through phishing content distributed via compromised Discord and Twitter accounts, paid traffic, emails, private messages, and organic traffic such as NFT or token airdrops.
Throughout 2024, Scam Sniffer observed distinct patterns in malicious activity. The first half of the year saw smaller-scale incidents, with losses ranging from $1-8m. However, the peak period occurred in July-September, with major losses of $55.5m and $32.5m in August and September, respectively, accounting for more than half of the year’s total losses.
Most of the losses reported in the year were related to Ethereum, followed by Blast and Arbitrum. The attack landscape also experienced shifts, with prominent drainers like Pink Drainer shutting down operations and others like Angel Drainer losing market share.
Scam Sniffer emphasized the importance of prioritizing security and maintaining vigilance in the decentralized world of Web3. They stressed the need for both technological protection and security awareness to safeguard assets effectively.
In conclusion, the rise of wallet drainer attacks underscores the importance of staying informed and proactive in safeguarding crypto assets in an increasingly digital world. Stay alert, stay secure, and protect your assets in the evolving landscape of cryptocurrency security.