Malware Delivered By Google Ads Drains Entire Crypto Wallet From NFT Influencers

[ad_1]

An NFT influencer claims to have lost some of his life-changing net worth in non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and crypto after accidentally downloading malware found in a Google Ad search result.

The pseudo-anonymous influencer known on Twitter as NFT God posted a series of tweets on January 14 detailing how his entire digital livelihood came under attack, including a compromise of his crypto wallet and several online accounts.

Last night my entire digital livelihood was breached.

Every account connected to me both personally and professionally has been hacked and used to hurt others.

Less important, I lost some of my net worth that changed my life

— God NFT (@NFT_GOD) January 15, 2023

NFT God, also known as Alex, said he used Google’s search engine to download OBS, an open source video streaming software, instead of clicking the official website, he clicked the sponsored advertisement. for what he thought was the same thing.

It wasn’t until a few hours later, after a series of phishing tweets posted by attackers on two Twitter accounts that Alex operates, that he realized that malware had been downloaded from the sponsored advertisement next to the software he wanted.

Following a message from an acquaintance, Alex noticed that his crypto wallet was also compromised. The next day, attackers hacked into his Substack account and sent phishing emails to his 16,000 subscribers.

Then I get the DM I dreaded. “Dude, did you wet your monkey? »

I open my monkey’s Opensea bookmark and there it is. A completely different wallet listed as owner.

I knew at that moment that everything was gone. All. All my crypto and NFT ripped from me

— God NFT (@NFT_GOD) January 15, 2023

Blockchain data shows that at least 19 Ether (ETH) worth nearly $27,000 at the time, a Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFT with a current floor price of 16 ETH (25,000 $) and several other NFTs were siphoned from Alex’s wallet.

The attacker moved most of the ETH through multiple wallets before sending it to the decentralized exchange (DEX) FixedFloat, where it was exchanged for unknown cryptocurrencies.

Alex believes the critical error that allowed the wallet hack was to set up his hardware wallet as a hot wallet by entering his seed phrase in a way that no longer kept him cold or offline, allowing hackers to take control of their crypto and their NFTs.

Related: Navigating the Crypto World: Tips to Avoid Scams

Unfortunately, the NFT Gods experience isn’t the first time the crypto community has dealt with crypto-stealing malware in Google Ads.

A January 12 report from cybersecurity firm Cyble warned of information-stealing malware called Rhadamanthys Stealer spreading via Google Ads on a highly convincing phishing webpage[s].

In October 2022, Binance CEO Changpeng CZ Zhao warned that Google results were promoting crypto-phishing and scam websites in search results.

Cointelegraph contacted Google for comment but did not receive a response. In its Help Center, however, Google said it actively works with trusted advertisers and partners to help prevent malware in ads.

It also describes its use of proprietary technologies and malware detection tools to regularly scan Google Ads.

Cointelegraph was unable to replicate Alex’s search results or verify if the malicious website was still active.

[ad_2]