ESET, a Slovakia-based firm that provides anti-malware software worldwide, has uncovered a large Trojan crypto wallet scheme, aimed at stealing digital assets. The computer virus targeted users through social media, masking itself as a trustworthy popular crypto wallet.
The official ESET article further states that the malicious applications targeted Android and iOS users through fake apps in their mobile app stores, by imitating popular crypto wallets, such as MetaMask, Coinbase, Trust Wallet, or TokenPocket. All these apps have subsequently been taken down, but ESET believes there might be others that are still active.
The operation is believed to be the work of a single group that started targeting Chinese users primarily, back in May 2021, but has since spread worldwide.
Lukáš Štefanko, who discovered the scheme said that not only did the attackers steal the users’ funds but they were also using unsafe non-encrypted channels while doing so, which means that “victims' funds could be stolen not only by the operator of this scheme but also by a different attacker eavesdropping on the same network.”
While uncovering such a scheme is always positive news, it shall serve as a reminder to the crypto community to always double-check before venturing into an unknown environment. And even though more and more cyber crimes are getting solved every day, there is no guarantee that your stolen funds come back to you. Mostly the opposite is the case.