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The recent attacks on cryptocurrency data websites occurred as stablecoins such as Terra Luna and Coinbase suffered large-scale outages.
Pop-ups appeared on cryptocurrency data websites including CoinGecko, Etherscan, DeFi Pulse, and others, encouraging users to connect a MetaMask wallet to use on the site.
As the cryptocurrency market crashed, several large cryptocurrency data websites were affected by cyberattacks, with users being prompted to connect their cryptocurrency wallets via deceptive pop-ups.
Scam pop-ups appeared on several popular websites, including CoinGecko, Etherscan, and DeFi Pulse, encouraging users to link their MetaMask wallet to use on the site.
This wallet is a crypto software wallet that can be accessed via phone or browser.
The phishing attack appears to promise a link to the Bored Ape Yacht Club initiative, as reported by the monkey skull logo and the now-deactivated nftapes.win domain. To address the issue, CoinGecko founder Bobby Ong told CoinDesk that he is investigating the core cause of the attack.
Ong believes the incident was caused by a malicious advertising script from Coinzilla, a cryptocurrency advertising network.
Meanwhile, Etherscan tweeted: “We have received reports of phishing pop-ups through our third-party integration and are investigating. Please be careful not to check deals that pop up on the website.”
This type of cyberattack typically involves sending fake communications that appear to come from a trusted source. Email is the most used method of communication. The goal of performing these attacks is to steal sensitive information such as credit card and login information or to infect the victim's computer with malware.
Last year, Check Point Research discovered a phishing attack that used Google ads to steal someone's credentials or trick them into logging into the attacker's wallet so they would receive every transaction they attempted.
However, it is important to note that recent attacks on cryptocurrency data websites occurred during large-scale outages of stablecoins such as Terra Luna and Coinbase.
Previously a leading cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase experienced large-scale outages amid the cryptocurrency chaos, especially with the Terra Luna coin, raising concerns among investors.
The Coinbase outage comes as Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, halted trading in Terraform Labs' Terra (Luna) and TerraUSD (UST) tokens. The token plummeted 98%, costing investors their lives.
In less than 24 hours on May 12, more than $275 billion was wiped from global cryptocurrency market capitalization, sending Bitcoin to around $27,000, its lowest level since December 2020.
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