Hackers use Gate.io’s Twitter account to promote fake airdrop

The attackers announced a giveaway of 500 000 USDT, to get which one needs to connect one’s wallet

22.10.2022 - 06:45

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2 min

What’s new? Hackers hacked the official Twitter account of cryptocurrency exchange Gate.io and changed the website URL in the description. They used the platform’s account to distribute phishing links. The attackers announced a fake giveaway of 500 000 USDT stablecoins, according to the rules of which users need to connect their wallet to receive the reward. Once the user does so, the hackers gain access to their funds. Cybersecurity firm PeckShield reported the incident.

#PeckShieldAlert #Phishing Seems like crypto-exchange Gate[.]io's verified Twitter account @gate_io was compromised & has been used to share links to fraudulent $USDT GIVEAWAY.gąte[.]com is the phishing site. Thanks @aayushrai11 and @grpolice for the intel pic.twitter.com/cpZ6CgAADm— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) October 22, 2022

What is known about Gate.io? It is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange, established in 2013 in China and originally called Bter. But amid crypto bans by the Chinese government, the exchange was forced to suspend operations, but in 2017 it was taken over by US company Gate Technology. As of October 22, the daily trading volume is $706,5 million, according to CoinGecko. There are 1518 coins and 2792 trading pairs available on the platform.

In early September, representatives of The Sandbox metaverse reported that the project’s official Instagram account had been hacked. The attackers placed a phishing link in the profile description. The hackers managed to bypass two-factor authentication and other security tools of the social network.

In April, a hack into the official Instagram account of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection resulted in a loss of 91 NFTs worth about $2,8 million. The hackers spread a malicious link under the guise of a fake airdrop of LAND tokens.

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