Customers of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX are already receiving phishing emails following a breach of personal data held by several crypto companies, CoinDesk reports.
The customer data was leaked after a T-Mobile employee fell for a SIM swapping attack and granted a threat actor access to an account belonging to an employee of financial advisory firm Kroll. Kroll served as the claims agent in the bankruptcies of FTX, Genesis, and BlockFI, so the attacker was able to steal the data from Kroll.
“Customer data of other bankrupt crypto firms Genesis and lender BlockFi were also leaked in that attack,” CoinDesk notes. “Crypto account passwords and other sensitive data weren’t affected, but customers were warned to be on the lookout for scammers impersonating parties in the bankruptcy. Whoever got their hands on this goldmine of information lost no time in crafting hopeful emails that purport to return the lost capital to holders – as long as they first connect a crypto wallet to the account.”
The phishing emails state, “You have been identified as an eligible client to begin withdrawing digital assets from your FTX account. Withdrawals will be dispatched in USDC matched to the balance of digital assets held in your wallet at the time of platform pause. You can now withdraw to an external ERC20 wallet by clicking the withdraw now button.”
CoinDesk explains, “SIM swapping happens when scammers contact your mobile phone's carrier and trick them into activating a SIM card that the fraudsters have. The scammers then target phone numbers and use a victim’s information to steal passwords, financial data, cryptocurrencies, and other valuable items.”
New-school security awareness training can give your employees a healthy sense of suspicion so they can avoid falling for targeted social engineering attacks.
CoinDesk has the story.
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