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A single fraudster has allegedly succeeded in stealing approximately $385,000 worth of Ether (ETH) within a span of less than 24 hours, amidst a wave of SIM-swap hacks seemingly aimed at Friend.tech users.
On October 5, blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that the same scammer had stolen 234 ETH in the previous 24 hours by SIM-swapping four distinct Friend.tech users.
The on-chain transactions of the cryptocurrency assets were traced back to the same hacker who emptied the accounts of the four victims.
The same fraudster gained $385K (234 ETH) in the last 24 hours by SIM swapping four different FriendTech users. pic.twitter.com/03BoBEqGax
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) October 4, 2023
One of the identified victims of the latest series of SIM-swap attacks shared on X (Twitter) after the incident:
“Got sim swapped. Apparently, the individual was able to do it from an Apple store and switched it to an iPhone SE. Don’t buy my keys, that wallet is compromised.”
X user “KingMgugga” reported an attack targeting them in real time, posting on X that they were “getting f—ing sim swapped watching it happen” and seeking assistance. Meanwhile, another X user, “holycryptoroni,” confirmed they experienced a similar attack, expressing, “I got swapped sorry.”
Earlier this week, an additional four Friend.tech users claimed their accounts were drained due to a SIM-swap or phishing attack, amounting to around 109 ETH stolen.
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I was just SIM swapped and robbed of 22 ETH via @friendtech
The 34 of my own keys that I owned were sold, rugging anyone who held my key, all the other keys I owned were sold, and the rest of the ETH in my wallet was drained.
If your Twitter account is doxxed to your real… pic.twitter.com/5wA86mjYEG— daren (friend, friend) (@darengb) October 3, 2023
Friend.tech enables users to buy “keys” of individuals, granting access to private chat rooms with them.
The SIM-swap scam occurs when fraudsters gain access to the victim’s phone number and utilize it to obtain authentication, allowing them to access their social media and cryptocurrency accounts.
Manifold Trading, a company developing tools for the ecosystem, estimated that $20 million of Friend.tech’s $50 million in total value locked could be at risk. It urged the platform to enhance its account security measures by implementing two-factor authentication (2FA).
Related: How easy is a SIM swap attack? Here’s how to prevent one
There have also been requests for X to adopt 2FA security measures to prevent mobile phone numbers from being leaked following the high-profile hack of Vitalik Buterin’s account in September, which was also a result of a SIM swap attack.
“0xfoobar,” founder and CEO of wallet security firm Delegate, recommended removing phone numbers from social media accounts.
crypto twitter is like a neighborhood where once a day somebody leaves their front door open, gets robbed, and everybody comes together to lament the loss, leaving their own front doors open. instead of retweeting the 75th simswap of the week go remove your phone from everything
— foobar (@0xfoobar) October 5, 2023
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