One user was targeted by the infamous #Pink Drainer hacking group, causing him to lose $4.4 million in Chainlink (LINK) tokens due to their deceptive tactics.
The attention of onchain investigator Scam Sniffer was drawn to this significant financial setback.
What happened
The criminals reportedly quickly emptied the victim's wallet of 275,700 LINK in two transactions, which at current exchange rates is a staggering $4.33 million dollars. The attack is believed to have used social engineering, a favorite technique of Pink Drainer members.
another victim lost $4.4 million worth of LINK to phishing scams about 2 hours ago.https://t.co/B4Z3yWrH7e https://t.co/6n6m0lZQK4 pic.twitter.com/6zSWTp8G6d
— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) December 29, 2023
The attackers transferred about 68,925 LINK to a wallet identified as "PinkDrainer: Wallet 2" on Etherscan. They also sent another 206,775 LINK to another address.
Another astute onchain researcher, #ZachXBT, noticed that the Pink Drainer scammers converted the stolen funds into Ethereum (ETH). He also reported that the illegally gained funds are currently being laundered through the cryptocurrency exchange eXch.
Previous Pink Drainer exploits
According to Dune, this hacker group attacked and robbed over 9,000 users in 2023, collecting a total of over $18 million dollars. Their most lucrative period was during the spring and summer seasons, when they started masquerading as journalists.
In June, it was revealed that cybercriminals defrauded about 2,000 investors, swindling more than $2.9 million from them. Analysts believe that the attackers relied primarily on their social engineering skills, posing as journalists from reputable publications.
Such schemes have become alarmingly common. In mid-November, SlowMist analysts reported a new wave of thefts in which an attacker posed as a well-known journalist, lured #Friend.tech users into an interview and then attempted to compromise their accounts.
A similar incident occurred with collectors of the Bored Ape Yacht Club (#BAYC). The scammer posed as a Forbes editorial staff member and sent phishing links to unsuspecting victims.
Immunefi analysts estimate that over the past year, #hackers stole $1.8 billion dollars worth of cryptocurrency.
