Ethereum Virtual Coin Spawns the Largest Number of Cryptocurrency Scams

Kaspersky Labs has recently conducted research proving that Ethereum is the most frequent digital currency used for fraudulent activity. Being the most well-known cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, Ethereum seems to be the perfect option for scammers to perform illicit business and remain anonymous.

“Ethereum (ETH) is currently the most popular cryptocurrency with phishers. The popularity of Ethereum with cybercriminals increases as more funds are attracted by ICOs on the Ethereum platform. According to our very rough estimate (based on data received from over a thousand ETH wallets used by malefactors), over the Q2 2018, cybercriminals exploiting ICOs managed to make $2,329,317 (end-of-July-2018 exchange rate), traditional phishing not included,” Kaspersky reports.

Among other points in its quarterly report, Kaspersky Lab dedicated a bunch of comments to the crypto market situation, especially the Ethereum virtual coin. A cybersecurity and anti-virus provider emphasized Ethereum is a top crypto coin for hackers and criminals.

Scam Schemes on Social Networks

Special attention in the report was paid to Ethereum giveaways arranged in social networks by ‘celebrities’. However, all these lotteries are ordinary fraudulent schemes performed by fake accounts or scam bots. The names of Pavel Durov, Vitalik Buterin, and Elon Musk were highly favoured by swindlers for their malicious ventures.

The scheme is plain and simple. The fake celebrity account asks users to transfer a small amount of money to a specific wallet and promises to double or even triple the number of coin in return.  A fraudster also creates a separate website with a wallet, where the list of fake transactions is located. It is no surprise, that a naive crypto owner receives nothing in the end. 

It is obvious that Ethereum blockchain was not designed to become a part of fraudulent schemes, but users need to be more cautious with this token, especially when giveaways is implied.