Reports of people trying to use counterfeit cash are spreading across the US. Headlines on various attempts to pay with fake money are popping up around the country, with ABC News declaring counterfeiting is “making a comeback.” Police in Hilo, Hawaii say someone has been bleaching the ink off of $1 bills and printing $100 […]
The post Use of Fake Money Reported Across US After Secret Service Seizes $21,800,000 of Counterfeit Cash in One Year appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
SEC’s Gary Gensler managed to excite, then rudely disappoint crypto fans with a "legendary and respectable troll thread.”
The United States Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler duped more than a few X users into believing he was resigning from the SEC on Wednesday — before saying he’s “not done.”
“It’s been an honor to serve as [SEC] Chair. Over the past 3 years, I’ve seen firsthand how the incredible staff at the SEC serve investors and issuers alike.” Gensler wrote in an April 17 X post.
In following posts, he noted the “more than 2,000 enforcement actions” and rules the SEC had finalized under his stewardship — words that appeared to lead up to him announcing his resignation.
Phishing scammers have been spreading fake news of a $37 million dollar Uniswap exploit using a convincing fake Blockworks website.
Phishing scammers have cloned the websites of crypto media outlet Blockworks and Ethereum blockchain scanner Etherscan to trick unsuspecting readers into interacting with a phishing site.
A cloned Blockworks site displays a fake "BREAKING" news report of a supposed multimillion-dollar “approvals exploit” on the decentralized exchange Uniswap and encourages users to a faked Etherscan website to rescind approvals.
The fake Etherscan website, displaying a purported token and smart contract approval checker, instead contains a smart contract that would likely drain a crypto wallet when connected.
Related: 85% of crypto rug pulls in Q3 didn’t report audits: Hacken
An age check of the domains shows the fake Etherscan site — approvalscan.io — was registered on Oct. 25, with the faked Blockworks site — blockworks.media registered a day later.
Magazine: Ethereum restaking — Blockchain innovation or dangerous house of cards?
Crypto exchange Binance said its “hardcore” work culture could explain some of the results, while recruiters warn the data should be taken with a grain of salt.
Crypto exchanges, including Gemini, Binance and Coinbase, are home to some of the least happy employees in the industry, according to data derived from Glassdoor — though some argue the results may be skewed.
A quadrant chart by tech recruitment firm TrueUp — understood to have collated data from job review platform Glassdoor — mapped out how crypto firms stack up regarding employee happiness vs. growth.
27 of the most valuable cryptocurrency firms were placed on TrueUp’s quadrant chart.
The chart shows defunct crypto lender Celsius, crypto exchange Gemini and crypto trading firm Amber Group, with the least happy employees, according to data gleaned from 80, 139 and 42 reviews, respectively.
Binance and Coinbase also appear on the left side of the chart, with the respective Glassdoor listings showing a total of 1,257 reviews.
Glassdoor doesn’t have a happiness metric, but it does gauge whether the reviewer would recommend the company to a friend, whether they approve of the CEO they worked under, and whether the reviewer had a positive outlook for the company.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, a Binance spokesperson explained that the firm seeks to hire candidates “who can thrive in a truly high-performance environment” in addition to being “obsessively focused on delivering for our users.”
They explained that not every Binance employee is cut out to be “hardcore” — one of the firm’s core values:
“It also means that sometimes, we have some who are not able to thrive in this unique, brutally fast environment, and we have to accept some negative reviews as a result.”
“Negative feedback enables us to address problems, and we’re on a constant journey to improve our employee experience,” the Binance spokesperson added.
Cointelegraph also reached out to Coinbase, MoonPay, Bitpanda and 21Shares for comment but did not receive a response by publication. Gemini declined to comment.
Glassdoor reviews are user-submitted, self-reported information. In 2017, recruiters raised concerns over the legitimacy of Glassdoor data, suggesting that reviews can be easily faked or manipulated.
However, Glassdoor states that every review goes through a “moderation process” before it is approved for publication on its website.
Neil Dundon, the founder of Crypto Recruit, told Cointelegraph that while the Glassdoor data is “speculative,” it appears as though employees “building infrastructure” are more satisfied than those working at exchanges:
“The sadder employees may not be as fulfilled given they are working in a more speculative/exchange environment whereas the right side are actually building infrastructure for blockchain, so these employees may feel they have more purpose in their work.”
The large staff layoffs among top-tier firms have likely been factored into the figures, Dundon suggested.
“Across the industry in general, though, it’s hard to feel happy in your job when there is underlying insecurity among employees with all of the layoffs that have happened over the last year,” he said.
The silver lining, according to Dundon, is that “the worst” may be behind crypto employees now.
Related: Crypto recruitment execs reveal the safest jobs amid layoff season
Meanwhile, the TrueUp chart suggests the “happiest” workers in the industry came from Ava Labs, the team behind the Avalanche blockchain; cryptocurrency exchange and wallet provider Blockchain.com; and Fireblocks, an institutional digital asset custodian.
Glassdoor data also shows that Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius, was one of the industry’s most disliked CEOs, with only 27% of past and present Celsius employees “approving” of him.
Brian Armstrong and Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the CEOs of Coinbase and Binance, respectively, have 69% and 65% approval ratings — lower than average for technology-based CEOs.
Magazine: Can you trust crypto exchanges after the collapse of FTX?
A prosecutor investigating Terraform Labs CEO Do Kwon for alleged passport forgery in Montenegro has indicated that he will not be extradited soon. The law enforcement official told South Korean media that Montenegrin authorities intend to indict Kwon within a month, ruling out the possibility of him being handed over to other countries within the […]
Unsuspecting users looking to claim Blur token airdrops have had funds stolen by a number of fake websites.
Scammers continue to prey on nonfungible token (NFT) users looking to claim Blur token airdrops through the use of numerous scam websites.
According to data from TrustCheck, over $300,000 has been stolen from unsuspecting users that have linked wallets to malicious websites.
The legitimate Blur platform is a newcomer to the NFT marketplace space, making waves in the industry with booming user numbers and trading volume directly resulting from the platform’s three-phase airdrop incentive scheme. 10% of Blur’s total token supply was distributed to users based on their trading activity in its second token airdrop scheme from Feb. 15.
The first airdrop was retroactive, awarding tokens to anybody who traded an NFT on Ethereum in the six months leading up to the platform’s launch in October 2022. The second airdrop awarded tokens to users who listed NFTs before Dec. 6, while the third airdrop awarded tokens to users placing bids on the platform after the feature went live.
Related: What is a phishing attack in crypto, and how to prevent it?
Given the incentive program's mechanics, many users have been looking to claim $BLUR tokens across the NFT ecosystem. This created an opportunity for scammers to promote fake airdrop links to malicious websites.
Data shared with Cointelegraph from Ethereum-based Web3 browser security extension TrustCheck reveals that over $300,000 worth of funds have been stolen from 24 different scam websites since Feb. 15. A handful of these websites are still functional, with users warned to be wary when connecting wallets.
The websites make use of smart contracts that automatically prompt a transaction when users connect their ETH wallets. All the ETH from the wallet is then drained to a specific address, which has allowed TrustCheck to keep tabs on the number of funds stolen to date.
Tools like TrustCheck will flag suspicious websites and transactions, warning Web3 users of potential fake websites and smart contracts.
Blur has also been in the spotlight due to reports of users carrying out NFT wash trading in order to cash in on its token airdrop incentive scheme. However, data analytics carried out by data scientist Hildebert Moulié on Dune suggests that Blur’s NFT trading volumes are legitimate.
Fake websites and phishing attacks are commonplace across the internet, while scammers continue attempts to drain funds through Web3 functionality. In February 2023, a URL masquerading as the ETH Denver conference website was linked to a notorious phishing wallet address that has stolen over $300,000 to date.
Scammers also preyed on FTX investors using phishing websites in late 2022 that were scrambling to recoup funds after the implosion of the failed cryptocurrency exchange.
Hackers continue to create fake Web3-enabled websites to fleece unsuspecting victims’ browser-based wallets, with ETHDenver being the latest victim.
A fake website of the popular Ethereum Denver conference is the latest phishing target of a red-flagged smart contract that has stolen over $300,000 worth of Ether (ETH).
The popular conference saw its website duplicated by hackers this week in order to trick users into connecting their MetaMask wallets. According to Blockfence, which identified the fraudulent website, the smart contract has accessed more than 2,800 wallets and stolen over $300,000 over the past six months.
Another day, another scam.
— Blockfence (@blockfence_io) February 20, 2023
This time the scammer targeted the @EthereumDenver website. Blockfence is here to protect you and fight scammers together: The scam contract was marked as "High Risk" by our ML algorithm and our partners at @GoplusSecurity pic.twitter.com/Jdtoz2Bgu4
ETHDenver also issued a notice to its followers on Twitter warning of the malicious website.
Hello Fellow Bufficorns!!
— ETHDenver (@EthereumDenver) February 20, 2023
Please be aware that there is a FAKE ETHDenver website that is asking for you to connect your wallet.
“Go-ETHDenver” is not us. Please report the site! pic.twitter.com/1dt4hYmfvO
Blockfence CEO Omri Lahav told Cointelegraph that users were prompted to connect their MetaMask wallets via the usual “connect wallet” button. The website prompts a transaction that, if approved, carries out the malicious function and steals the users’ funds.
Blockfence’s research team identified the incident while tracking different trends in the industry. Lahav said that the smart contract executing the scam had stolen over 177 ETH since its deployment midway through 2022:
“Since the smart contract was deployed almost six months ago, it’s possible that it was used on other phishing websites.”
Hackers had gone as far as paying for a Google advertisement to promote the malicious website’s URL, banking on search trends being high, with ETHDenver taking place on Feb. 24 and 25. The fake website appeared second on a Google search, above the actual ETHDenver website.
As Cointelegraph previously reported, hacks and scams continue to be commonplace in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. 2022 saw over $2.8 billion of cryptocurrency stolen through a variety of hacks and exploits.
Over two dozen fake NFTs were sold on the Magic Eden marketplace over a 24-hour period due to a "massive exploit" on the platform.
Nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden has pledged to refund all users who were duped into purchasing fake NFTs on its website as a result of an exploit.
In a Jan. 4 statement, the company said a bug in its newly deployed "activity indexer" for its Snappy Marketplace and Pro Trade tools essentially allowed fake NFTs to skirt verification and get listed alongside genuine NFT collections.
Magic Eden said the exploit led to 25 fraudulent NFTs sold across four collections in the last 24 hours but is currently confirming whether additional NFTs were affected beyond the last day.
Two of the affected projects were the high-priced and popular Solana-based collections ABC and y00ts.
Do not buy these @y00tsNFT on @MagicEden, they are fake!
— HGE.SOL ♂️ (@HGESOL) January 4, 2023
Basically, every single collection is fake on Magiceden, a massive exploit is happening ongoing.
High-value NFTs are suffering the most, as attackers choose to exploit higher-value NFTs first. pic.twitter.com/35RYHOKVxd
The NFT platform said it has rectified the issue by temporarily disabling both tools and eliminating the “entry points” that allowed unverified NFTs to get through.
It also asked users to perform a “hard refresh” to ensure the unverified listings no longer show up on their browser session and shut down the purchase of unverified NFTs as a precaution.
“Magic Eden is safe for trading and we will refund all the users who mistakenly bought unverified NFTs specifically due to this issue,” it wrote.
Earlier today, unverified NFTs were being shown as part of verified collections on ME. In the last day, impact was contained to 25 unverified NFTs sold in 4 collections.
— Magic Eden (@MagicEden) January 4, 2023
We've resolved the issue and will refund those affected. Now, no one can buy unverified NFTs on ME.
Magic Eden first raised the alarm over the fraudulent NFTs in a Twitter post on Jan. 4, citing community reports that people were able to buy fake ABC NFTs. At the time, it said it added “verification layers” in an attempt to resolve the issue.
After the announcement, Twitter users continued to sound the alarm on fake y00ts NFTs pervading the platform. A screenshot from ABC creator “HGE” showed at least two sales worth 100 Solana (SOL) each, a total amount of around $2,600.
DeGods, the creator of y00ts, also tweeted to its followers that there was an exploit on Magic Eden that allowed unverified NFTs to be listed as part of the collection.
There is currently an exploit on Magic Eden allowing for unverified NFT’s to be listed as part of the collection
— DeGods III (@DeGodsNFT) January 4, 2023
You can verify if an NFT is part of the collection on our explore page linked below
If it’s not in our explorer, it’s not our NFThttps://t.co/c4HKIJJD1n
The latest exploit is now the second incident that users of Magic Eden has had to go through this week.
On Jan. 3, the marketplace was littered with pornographic images and images from the television series The Big Bang Theory.
Related: NFT influencer falls victim to cyberattack, loses $300K+ CryptoPunks
Magic Eden said a third-party image hosting provider was “compromised” leading to the “unsavory images” and assured users their NFTs were safe.
Cointelegraph contacted Magic Eden for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
The list comes out as part of Australia’s 2022 Scams Awareness Week.
Australia’s market regulator has released a list of the “top-10 ways to spot a crypto scam,” amid a detected rise in crypto-related investment scams this year.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission’s (ASIC) public advisory statement was published as part of Scams Awareness Week 2022, an initiative that teaches Australians how to identify all forms of scams. The campaign takes place between Nov. 7 to 11.
ASIC said that Australians had already lost more through “investment scams” in 2022 than the total $701 million figure in 2021, while ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court attributed cryptocurrencies to the steep incline in investment scams over the last two to three years:
“The main driver of the increase was cryptocurrency investment scams, where losses increased by 270%. The ACCC have advised that losses to crypto scams have increased further in 2022.”
“Given this concerning trend, we want to arm Australians with the information they need to protect themselves from scammers,” she added.
As part of the advisory, ASIC stated that cryptocurrency scams fall into three categories. The first relates to scams where the victim believes to be investing in a legitimate asset. However, the crypto app, exchange, or website turns out to be fake.
The second scam involves fake crypto tokens used to facilitate money laundering activities, while the third type of scam involves the use of cryptocurrency to make fraudulent payments.
ASIC says top signs of a crypto scam include “receiving an offer out of the blue,” “fake celebrity advertisements” and being asked by a “romantic partner you only know on-line” to send money in crypto.
Other red flags include being asked to pay for financial services in crypto, being asked to pay more money to access funds, withholding investment earnings “for tax purposes” or being offered “free money” or “guaranteed” investment returns.
The markets regulator also said it was common for scammers to pressure victims into transferring crypto to their website. To prevent this issue, ASIC also advised crypto investors not to use web apps that aren’t listed on Apple Store or Google Play.
Other things to look out for is if “strange tokens appear in your digital wallet,” said ASIC.
If scammed, Court strongly advised victims not “to send any more money” to the scammer and to “block all contact” from them if their identity is known:
“Do not delay. Contact your bank or financial institution immediately to report the scam. Ask them to stop any transactions. Also, warn your family and friends so they can watch out for potential follow-up scams.”
Related: Aussies already lost $242M to investment and crypto scams in 2022
A Nov. 7 report from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) predicted Australian-targeted scam losses will reach $4 billion Australian dollars by the end of 2022.
The ACCC has received $10 million in seed funding as part of its budget to build a National Anti-Scam Center to support the community in its fight against cybercriminals, which was confirmed by Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones on Nov. 7.
David Koch, the host of the Australian breakfast show Sunrise, has called for the ACCC to demand more accountability on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn over the scam-like content that can be found on its platforms.
Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, is still struggling for its metaverse app Horizon Worlds to find its intended audience. The company, that presented a video of full new avatars, including feet this week, was criticized due to the prepared nature of the presentation. In the same way, the company lowered the goal of […]