ETH-Based Scam Review More Than Doubled In 2018

| Publish date: 01/27/2019
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In the latest cryptocurrency news, the value of stolen digital currency called Ethereum (ETH) through scams has reached about $36 million in 2018.  It turns out to have more than doubled in the said year. The figures were reported by crypto analytics firm called Chainalysis.

Presenting the Numbers

According to the company’s official report, scams that occurred in the said year were believed to be more sophisticated. Not only were they bigger in size, but they were also more lucrative in one way or another. Chainalysis also went to suggest that the above-mentioned crypto has long been deemed as the digital currency of choice when it comes to scams.

The firm also reported that the value of stolen ETH funds had doubled in the same year. This is most especially when compared to the scams, all of which accumulated around $17 million in Ethereum, in 2017. The increase in profits, in particular, happened despite the fact that the number of scams significantly declined compared to the previous year.

From around late 2016 all the way to the end of 2018, the report discovered that more than 2,000 ETH scam addresses obtained funds from nearly 40,000 unique users. The report also pinpointed that about 75 percent of this scam activity occurred in the aforementioned year alone.

Common Types of Scams

Perhaps the most common types of scams involving the digital currency, according to Chainalysis, is the “ICO (Initial Coin Offering) exit scams.” It also includes the likes of phishing attacks and Ponzi schemes. The former, in particular, is said to be responsible for the 88 percent of scam profits in 2017. As for infection scams that took place with cryptocurrency, they are said to be quite less in common, especially since they only made up 3.8 percent of the scam revenue in 2017.

Chainalysis added that the nature of last year’s scam activity was quite different. This is particularly the case when compared directly to the previous years. Phishing attacks were reportedly less effective when compared to the previous years, though last year saw more of these exploits.

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The company also reported that the median amount of funds forwarded to an ETH scam got eliminated by around 50 percent, particularly when it is compared from the figures 2 years ago. Still, as per the report, a smaller group of creative criminals processed more complex ICO exit scams and Ponzi schemes in 2018.

As previously reported, a 36-year-old man got arrested over theft of more than $11 million in IOTA. The suspect was believed to have utilized a malicious seed generator in order to generate seeds for users that would eventually cause them to use private keys, all of which he had control over.

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