Polychain Capital, a cryptocurrency investment firm, has confirmed that founder and CEO Olaf Carlson-Wee’s X account has been hacked.
The breach came to light on January 4 when Carlson-Wee’s account began promoting fake airdrops for PCHAIN, Polychain’s native token. The hacker claimed that the airdrop was part of Polychain’s New Year’s celebration and that the post contained a link to a phishing website.
However, soon after discovering the breach, Polychain issued a statement acknowledging the hack and warning users not to interact with Carlson-Wee’s X account until further notice.
The account, which had more than 19,000 followers, was searched and the offending post was removed, but the post was reportedly viewed by more than 40,000 X users. It is not yet known how many people interacted with the post or lost their assets as a result.
The Carlson-Wee incident is the latest in a series of hacks and scams targeting the cryptocurrency community. Last December, users of Orbit Chain’s cross-chain bridge suffered significant losses due to a hack. The incident brought total losses for the month to nearly $100 million.
In an attack at 8:52 PM UTC on December 31, the Orbit Bridge attackers stole various cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum (ETH), USD Coin (USDC), Tether (USDT), and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC).
In response, the Orbit Chain team announced efforts to freeze stolen assets and work with international cryptocurrency exchanges and law enforcement agencies to recover them.
Phishing scams continue to occur.
Phishing scams have become a scourge for the cryptocurrency industry with several reports highlighting just how prevalent they will be in 2023. Cryptocurrency phishing scams affected more than 324,000 people in 2023, causing losses worth nearly $300 million, according to blockchain security platform Scam Sniffer.
Another report from SlowMist found that in the same year, a total of 464 security incidents resulted in losses of approximately $2.5 billion. This figure represents a 34.2% decrease compared to 2022, which recorded over 300 accidents and $3.8 billion in losses.
According to the report, the decentralized finance (defi) sector was the most targeted last year. More than 280 security incidents occurred, accounting for 60.7% of all incidents that year, and interestingly, losses amounted to $773 million, or 62.7%. It will decrease from 2022.
Specifically, Ethereum suffered the highest losses due to fraud, rug pulling, and breaches, totaling $487 million, according to a SlowMist report. Polygon also fell victim to fraud and hacking, resulting in losses amounting to $123 million.
Other blockchain security companies like PeckShield CertiKBeosin also released its own report, estimating total cryptocurrency losses due to fraud, breaches and abuse in 2023 to be between $1.51 billion and $2 billion, with North Korea-linked hackers Lazarus Group accounting for 17% of these losses. occupied.