A prominent investor in the cryptocurrency memecoin Gigachad (GIGA) reported a loss of $6.09 million due to a phishing scam that involved a deceptive Zoom invitation link. The scam resulted in a substantial sell-off, causing GIGA's price to plummet on November 12.
The pseudonymous investor, Still in the Game, publicly disclosed the incident, confirming that the attack targeted one of their wallets. "The massive sell on $GIGA today was due to one of my wallets being drained by a fake Zoom link. This hurts bad, but I will be back. I will always stay in the game," the investor stated.
Crypto investigation firm Scam Sniffer identified that the victim clicked a fraudulent Zoom call invite that redirected them to a website engineered to steal sensitive wallet information. This site subsequently installed malware on the investor's laptop, facilitating the unauthorized funds transfer.
Onchain analytics firm Onchain Lens detailed that the attacker managed to extract 95.3 million GIGA tokens, converting these into Solana (SOL) and then into stablecoins Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), valued at approximately $2.1 million. The hacker funneled the stablecoins to another wallet and indirectly transferred 700 SOL tokens to the crypto exchange KuCoin. The systematic approach in converting the stolen assets into cryptocurrencies showcases a sophisticated understanding of evading detection and securing the stolen funds.
The loss prompted the involvement of the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and a specialized forensics team to attempt to recover the stolen assets. Despite the grim circumstances, Still in the Game remains hopeful about recovering from this significant financial setback, buoyed by the current bull market conditions.
This incident shows that the threat in the digital asset market still lingers, and there is a need to step up security measures and investors' awareness. After the breach, the conversation in the crypto forums has shifted to developing better security measures and the need to be careful about storing cryptocurrencies. It also focuses on a rise in the sophistication level of cybercriminals interested in cryptocurrency users.