Common Types of Phishing Attacks
To carry out phishing schemes in the cryptocurrency industry, attackers use a wide range of advanced tactics:
Fake Websites: It is difficult for customers to tell them apart from the real ones because they are carefully designed to resemble authentic cryptocurrency exchanges or wallet UI. Attackers obtain rapid access to these phoney websites as a victim submits their confidential information or login credentials, enabling them to immediately withdraw money. This includes phoney login sites made especially for the exchanges or well-known wallets like MetaMask.
Scam Emails or Direct Messages (DMs): Attackers transmit messages from wallet providers, bitcoin exchanges, or phoney groups. These messages often allege account issues, suspicious conduct, or the need for immediate action. They may even offer tempting investments, fake bounties, or high-profit airdrops. Usually, these messages include malicious links that take users to the previously stated phoney websites.
Malicious Browser Extensions or Wallet Apps: Particularly, these are made to steal private keys, mnemonic phrases, Keystore files, or wallet login credentials. One such instance is “Ledger Live,” a rogue Chrome plugin promoted through Google Ads.
Airdrop or Giveaway Scams: These attacks ask users to link a malicious program to their wallets. Victims are frequently lured in by false promises of an airdrop or bounty.
QR Code Scams: These entail QR codes that lead users to corrupt decentralized apps (dApps).
Wallet-Connecting dApps: Applications like these ask a user’s wallet for illegal authorization.
Impersonation on Social Media: In order to acquire confidence, attackers pose as trustworthy influencers or support personnel. Angler phishing is the practice of using social media platforms to trick users into disclosing personal information or downloading malicious software by using phoney URLs, cloned websites, posts, tweets, and instant messaging.
Pharming: Users that type the right URL are redirected to a fraudulent website by this attack. This is usually done by taking over a trusted website’s DNS. These attacks are hazardous and invisible since users may be asked for personal information on a fake website that looks and feels legitimate.
Spear Phishing: These attacks are highly targeted and use personal information like phone numbers or business jobs to appear more personal. Spear-phishing emails have become more convincing in bitcoin, enticing users to change recovery phrases or open malware-laden attachments from trusted sources.
Whale Phishing (CEO Fraud): It is comparable to spear phishing, except it targets senior staff members, like as directors or CEOs. Higher amounts of money and greater access to company systems can be obtained by obtaining their credentials.
Crypto-Jacking: In this case, crypto tokens are mined without the victim’s knowledge by utilizing their system resources. Malicious software downloaded from unknown links may cause this, which can manifest as symptoms like sluggish system performance or a shorter battery life.
Crypto Malware (Ransomware): By seizing total control of a system, attackers are able to view all data and lock off users. Then, threatening to erase or make private information publicly available, they demand cryptocurrency as ransom to open the data. Malicious websites, phoney browser extensions, or phishing emails can all be used to spread these.
Clone Phishing: Attackers construct a perfect duplicate of a genuine email that was previously sent to the victim, but include malicious attachments or links in place of the original ones. Because they are more familiar, the victim is more inclined to click.
Evil Twin Attack: This targets public Wi-Fi networks by creating a phoney network that looks like a real one in order to fool users into entering their login information.
Voice Phishing (Vishing): Uses phone calls or voicemails to deceive victims into disclosing private information, frequently by impersonating caller IDs to look like they are from a reputable company, such as a bank.
SMS Phishing (Smishing): Uses, like email phishing, SMS texts with malicious URLs that ask victims to submit their login information.
DNS Hijacking: Involves altering a legitimate website’s DNS settings to send visitors to a phoney domain created by an attacker. Malware loading on PCs, router control, or disruption of DNS connectivity can result from this.
Phishing Bots: Computer programs that automatically harvest victim credentials, develop fake websites, and send mass phishing emails. Verifying the message’s sources is crucial because they’re hard to notice.
Ice Phishing: Connives to get victims to unintentionally sign a document giving the scammer control over their cryptocurrency tokens. The victim must use their private key to sign the phoney transaction, which looks authentic.
Homographic Phishing URLs: Using URLs that closely resemble authentic ones but are intended to deceive consumers is the specialized kind of URL-based phishing. To identify them, the “Phish Block” method distinguishes between dangerous and safe homographic URLs. It lists three tactics for this kind of assault:
- Internationalized Domain Name in Applications (IDNA): Makes use of multilingual characters to generate domain names that are similar.
- Typosquatting: Use misleading misspellings of actual domain names.
- Reserved Character Usage (RCU): Uses reserved characters to cause harmful redirections in URLs.
Multichain Phishing: Phishing attempts that target users across several blockchain networks or services or employ numerous deception layers are called this. This approach recursively searches identified web sites for hyperlinks to find new phishing attempts. Attackers may crawl infected or legitimate websites with automated programs to extract all hyperlinks. These links are analysed to find more phishing targets, fraud sites, and victims. This recursive search expands their fake site network. Scammers try to get users to digitally sign a harmful transaction or smart contract approval using their Web3 wallet, thinking it’s a harmless “document” or “permission” for a lawful action. This signature gives the scammer authority over the user’s assets, letting them steal from their wallet.
How to Prevent Phishing Attacks
Phishing attacks change frequently, therefore protecting Web3 assets is vital. By being proactive and aware about digital security, you can reduce risk.
Strengthen your defences with these steps:
- Avoid sharing seed phrases and private keys. These are your cryptocurrency’s master keys. Anyone with access can swiftly deplete your funds. Legitimate sites never request this. Always store them offline, preferably safely.
- Bookmark official webpages and double-check URLs. Phishers create nearly identical fake websites. Remove extra characters, misspellings, and unusual subdomains from the URL before linking your wallet or entering passwords. Avoid clicking on email or social media links and utilize bookmarks to access crypto services.
- Enable 2FA if available. This adds a significant degree of security beyond your password. Even if they obtain your password, an attacker will need the second factor, such an authenticator app code, to access your account. Prefer app-based 2FA over SMS for security.
- Hardware wallets are ideal for valuable cryptocurrency. The ideal wallet for significant holdings is hardware. Your private keys are protected from online hacking and malware since they are stored offline. Physical validation of transactions on the device provides vital security.
- Avoid spam and unsafe links. Phishing promises can be urgent or alluring. Avoid unknown senders’ attachments and hover over URLs before clicking. Check questionable emails on the official website.
- Create strong, unique passwords for each account. Reusing passwords puts all your accounts at risk from one service hack. Use a reliable password manager to create and store complex passwords for all your online services.
- Get all your software updated. Update bitcoin apps, browsers, OSes, and antivirus regularly. Upgrades usually include security fixes to prevent hackers from exploiting new weaknesses.
- Trustworthy platforms are needed. Avoid new or esoteric wallet services, exchanges, or Decentralized Finance technologies that provide unlikely returns. Do considerable research, look for independent security audits, and use well-known platforms with a transparent and secure background.
Read more on How Phishing Works And How To Recognizing Phishing Attacks