Phishing scams surge with record losses in August
Scams cost crypto investors $12.17 million in August, with ScamSniffer recording the highest monthly losses and victim count this year.
ScamSniffer has reported a sharp rise in phishing scams during August, with losses climbing to $12.17 million, a 72% increase from July. The figure marks the highest monthly losses this year and came alongside 15,230 victims, a new annual record.
The spike was driven mainly by EIP-7702 batch signature scams, which accounted for nearly half of the stolen funds. One victim lost $3.08 million in a single incident, while two others lost $1.54 million and $1 million, respectively.
More minor but significant losses also occurred, including users losing $235,977 and $66,000 in scams disguised as Uniswap swaps.
EIP-7702, introduced with Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade, allows externally owned accounts to act temporarily like smart contracts. While intended to improve user experience, it has opened the door to new phishing exploits.
Security experts warn that attackers increasingly use automated sweeper attacks to drain compromised wallets.
Beyond EIP-7702, traditional phishing methods remain a problem. ScamSniffer noted a rise in address poisoning and malicious ads on platforms such as Google and Bing. One user lost $636,559 after copying a tainted address, while two more lost $500,000 and $19,000 in similar schemes.
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