In an innovative scheme, cybercriminals have attacked a prominent newsletter distribution platform that caters to several crypto platforms, including exchanges and crypto analytics platforms. CoinGecko’s Co-Founder and COO, Bobby Ong, confirmed that there was indeed a breach within an undisclosed, third-party newsletter distributor’s platform.
He said, “We at CoinGecko may be potentially affected and are actively working with our vendor to investigate further to determine the extent of this breach. We have seen phishing CoinGecko emails being sent from other client accounts. There is no CoinGecko token being planned so don’t be duped by the phishing emails.”
Cybercriminals are reportedly using this newsletter platform to launch phishing attacks by sending corrupt links to those subscribed to the newsletters of various crypto platforms. Clicking the link may take users to a page controlled by the scammers, asking for login information via pages that look identical to the platforms they use. Users will essentially give away their credentials to the scammers by entering their details.
Otherwise, users may be met with a request to connect their online wallets. Accepting it can trigger asset transactions from their wallets to the scammer’s wallet. This specific scam is called a supply chain attack because the cybercriminal is attacking a third-party platform/service to gain access to the userbase of their clients.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino took to X to confirm the same breach, warning users to stay away from any links, especially those stating airdrop deposits. He, too, has refrained from naming the newsletter distributor until investigations surrounding this matter have concluded.
We received now 2 independent confirmations that a prominent vendor used by crypto companies to manage mailing lists might have been compromised.
Not making names yet until investigation is completed, but please beware of any emails suggesting crypto-airdrops received since 24h…
— Paolo Ardoino 🤖🍐 (@paoloardoino) June 5, 2024
With numerous scams occurring in the crypto realm daily, this looks to take the cake for being the most out-of-the-box in recent times. Users are requested to safeguard their assets and not click on suspicious links and anything they receive from their subscribed newsletters. This should be the practice for the time being until updates emerge about the newsletter platform successfully neutralizing the attack.
Image by Fernando Arcos from Pixabay