After scammers hacked DJ Steve Aoki’s Twitter account to steal $170,000 in a phishing scam related to the PYSOP token, the founder of which, Ben.eth, has been asked to settle a class-action investor suit.
Crypto investigator ZachXBT confirmed on Friday that scammers asked people to click on a malicious link purportedly claiming to invest in the PYSOP token Aoki.
PSYOP founder suggests investors hacked Aoki’s account
According to ZachXBT, Influencer and PSYOP founder Ben.eth retweeted the link that caused investors to lose $170,000.
Scammers used the link to collect personal information in another crypto phishing attack.
Roughly 26 ETH were sent to an address from a recent SIM swap and swapping attack,
ZachXBT first warning About the unreliability of the founder of the token.
Earlier this week, LookOnchain reported that a number of investors lost 50% or more of their investments in the PSYOP pre-sale.
The token’s decline has led some members of the crypto community to label the project a scam.
ben.eth suggested that someone who missed out on the pre-sale tokens hacked Aoki’s account to recover his investment.
A subgroup of investors filed a class-action lawsuit against the founder on May 20 with attorneys Lowy & Lowy Warning Ben.eth may face charges of fraud and wire fraud. Pre-sale investors could lose up to $21 million.
PSYOP has declined 36% to $0.0042 since its May 24 high.
Twitter impersonation scams rise after Kasturi acquisition
Security researchers revealed an increase in phishing attacks stealing Twitter credentials after Elon Musk bought the social media company.
Fraudsters often ride major news stories like the Musk acquisition to lure victims, he said.
Attackers direct unsuspecting victims to sites or Google forms they host in order to obtain personal information.
Google’s new artificial intelligence-based email tool could make it easier for criminals to draft phishing messages and increase the threat level of the attack vector.
According to Sherrod Di Grippo, Vice President of Threat Research and Detection at cyber security company Proofpoint, scammers target celebrity accounts because of their large audiences.
He added that crypto pig butcher scams may have started on social media before spreading to other platforms.
Pig butchering is an increasingly popular confidence trick that scammers are using to steal cryptocurrencies.
Fraudsters will reach out to potential victims through dating apps, social media websites, or even random text messages.
Scammers impersonated several major brands last year, including Apple, Tesla and Nintendo.
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