Million

Source: Adobe / zedtox 
<p>Scammers have over the past nine months used a wallet-draining service named “MS Drainer” to siphon around $59 million worth of crypto from numerous victims, according to a recent <a href="https://drops.scamsniffer.io/post/from-google-to-x-ads-tracing-the-crypto-wallet-drainers-58-million-trail/">report</a> by blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer.</p> 
<p>The scam operated through Google Ads, targeting victims with counterfeit versions of popular crypto platforms such as Zapper, <a href="https://cryptonews.com/news/former-lido-holder-files-lawsuit-against-lido-dao.htm">Lido</a>, Stargate, DefiLlama, Orbiter Finance, and Radient, the report said.</p> 
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">2/ We first detected them in March, and the <a href="https://twitter.com/SlowMist_Team?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SlowMist_Team</a> shared their trails with us in early April. Then at the end of April, we spotted them again in Google search ad phishing. <a href="https://t.co/wWIIi49YMT">pic.twitter.com/wWIIi49YMT</a></p> 
<p>— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) <a href="https://twitter.com/realScamSniffer/status/1737799065646289157?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 21, 2023</a></p>  
<p>Wallet-drainers are specialized pieces of software that enables scammers to transfer crypto out of a victim’s wallet without their consent.</p> 
<p>The software exists as blockchain-based smart contracts that even charge a share of the illicit proceeds as a fee that can go back to the developers.</p> 
<h2 id="ms-drainer-first-identified-in-march">‘MS Drainer’ first identified in March</h2> 
<p><br> According to Scam Sniffer’s report, the firm first identified MS Drainer in March this year, with the SlowMist security platform assisting in the investigation.</p> 
<p>Regional targeting and page-switching tactics were reportedly used to evade Google’s ad audits, which in turn enabled the scammers to post fake ads as part of a phishing scam.</p> 
<p>The scammers also utilized web redirects, misleading users into thinking they were accessing official websites.</p> Example of phishing ads on Google. Source: ScamSniffer 
<h2 id="63-000-victims">63,000 victims</h2> 
<p><br> In all, Scam Sniffer discovered 10,072 fake sites employing MS Drainer, with its peak activity in November before a subsequent decline.</p> 
<p>During its operation, the drainer extracted nearly $59 million worth of crypto from over 63,000 victims.</p> 
<h2 id="scamming-as-a-service">Scamming as a service</h2> 
<p><br> Notably, the MS Drainer developer sold his scamming tool on forums for a flat fee.</p> 
<p>According to the report, the price was set at $1,499.99, with additional “modules” being offered at varying prices.</p>

Scammers Banked $59 Million in Crypto Exploiting Google Ads

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Cryptonews.com

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