Bitcoin Trader Loses Nearly $70 Million Through Address Poisoning Scam
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
- Fact-Checked by
A cryptocurrency trader lost around $70 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) through an “address poisoning” scam on May 3. The assets were converted into Ethereum (ETH) and distributed into 400 crypto wallets just a few days later.
According to CoinDesk , multiple blockchain security firms have already confirmed the fraud and the transactions related to this case.
The scammer, imitating a previous transaction, made a 0.05 ether (ETH) transaction to the victim, from a similar wallet address, confusing the trader and tricking them into sending 1,155 WBTC—97% of their assets— to the fake address. The strategy fits perfectly into the modus operandi of this type of scam described by Transak , the Web3 trading platform.
“Scammers make a crypto address that looks almost like yours. They send a small amount to your wallet, hoping you’ll accidentally use their address for your next big transaction.”
Certifik, the blockchain security firm, shared an image and information of the transaction on X through its alerts account CertiK Alert.
“Our system has detected a transfer of 1,155 WBTC (~$69.3m) to an address linked to address poisoning. EOA 0xd9A1 mimicked a transfer of 0.05 ETH which led the victim to send the funds to the wrong address.”
A research team from the blockchain security firm SlowMist is currently investigating the case and shared a report on Medium . The investigation reveals that the hacker generated a transfer address that was identical to the victim’s actual one in the first four and last six digits. The day after making the transaction the victim wrote to the scammer on the blockchain.
“You’ve won, brother. You can keep 10% and return the 90%. We can act like nothing happened. We both know $7 million is enough to live very comfortably, but $70 million will keep you up at night,” they said, according to the Medium report.
The victim sent more messages to the hacker but didn’t get a response. The hacker turned the stolen WBTC into ETH and waited six days to transfer the money into approximately 400 crypto wallets, making it harder for anyone to trace the assets.
The investigations continue, but there are no guarantees that the victim will get their money back. Amid the current crypto market turbulence , users must stay vigilant, informed, and extremely careful when transferring funds.
Sony & PS Return Helldivers 2 to Steam After Negative Reviews
- Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
Sony and PlayStation announced that the decision to require a PlayStation Network (PSN) account to play the popular video game Helldivers 2 has been reversed after hundreds of thousands of users across the world complained, leaving over 200,000 negative reviews on the game’s Steam page.
Sony, the publisher of the game, announced on May 3 that customers playing on PC would be required to have a PSN account to continue playing and removed Helldivers 2 from Steam in over 170 countries, some of which the PlayStation service isn’t even available. All of this occurred three months after releasing Helldivers 2 to players worldwide.
The company explained that it was planned from the beginning and hadn’t been required before “due to technical issues”.
The decision made thousands of players rage, request their money back, and ally to bring down the stellar reputation of the Arrowhead Games Studio game, which was said to have already sold around 8 million copies by mid-March.
According to Forbes , Sony made a “truly terrible mistake,” calling it an unfair decision toward its customers. “Players might not have purchased the game or might have returned it if they’d known”.
Just a few minutes after Sony’s announcement, thousands of players shared thoughts on social media channels, notably Reddit. They started writing poor reviews on Steam that quickly snowballed into 200,000, as confirmed by The Verge .
“Greatly disappointed with the additional forced change of requiring a PSN account in order to play the game,” wrote one user on Steam the day after the announcement.
The reputation of the esteemed game was severely affected, and the companies reconsidered. PlayStation posted an official announcement on its X account on May 6, telling customers that the PSN account requirement will not be necessary anymore.
“Helldivers fans — we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward”.
Customers were content with the reconsideration and even wrote positive reviews to get the game’s great reputation back. “Democracy has prevailed,” said one user on Steam. “This game is so good that we even had a campaign mission in real life,” wrote another.
