The KuCoin hack: full story & what’s next
Cyber attacks targeted at crypto platforms doesn’t seem to slow down as the Twitter account of cryptocurrency exchange, Kucoin was taken over by an unknown entity and used to promote a giveaway scam.
This was the second in the last 24 hours, the first being the Twitter account of the Philippines Department of Health (DOH) that was renamed “Vela Exchange”, and used to promote an ad saying the price of ether, the second largest cryptocurrency was going to pump soon.
The scam promoted by the Kucoin attacker promises 5,000 BTC and 10,000 ETH airdrop. The Twitter post announcing the airdrop scam links to a website designed to appear like a medium page. The website read “KuCoin has come a long way in the past year and we couldn’t do it without you. To celebrate the growth of KuCoin users, we are proud to announce initiating the airdrop pool of 5,000 Bitcoin (BTC) & 10,000 Ethereum (ETH)! Nothing we do at KuCoin would be possible without our community, and this is just a part of our efforts to assert that.”
And to participate, users were required to click on either or both of two links linking to get free Bitcoin and Ether where users are promised more than 10x of the bitcoin and ether they send to provided addresses.
To make the scam capture as many victims as possible, the scammer added that all persons including those in the US are able to participate, and don’t need a KuCoin account to participate. The scammers claim the airdrop will run until the 5,000 BTC and 10,000 ETH have been released. To appear legitimate, the attacker claimed if participants are late, their BTC or ETH will be refunded instantly.
The exchange has revealed it had discovered more than $22,000 lost to the scam and will compensate every user who verifiably lost to the scam.
Although the exchange wasn’t hacked according to Kucoin, this hack shows the need for increasing advanced cybersecurity and the vigilance and education of crypto users to easily spot crypto scams so as not to fall for them.
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