Crypto hackers are increasingly phishing for new bait on social media

As more people enter the web3 ecosystem, there are increasing opportunities for hackers to attack. And during the second quarter, there was a significant rise in crypto-focused phishing attacks across social media sites, according to a new report.

There were 290 recorded attacks during the second quarter, up 170% from 106 in the first quarter, according to a Web3 Security Q2 2022 report by CertiK, a blockchain and DeFi security-focused platform backed by Goldman Sachs and others. While there are many day-to-day minor phishing attacks (or attempts) on individuals in the space, the major attacks are classified as events that resulted in crypto losses of $100,000 or more, the company told TechCrunch.

“Social media affects phishing attacks by providing a centralized, single point of failure via which hackers can dupe users into following malicious links,” Ronghui Gu, CEO and co-founder at CertiK, said to TechCrunch. “This in turn leads to users being robbed of their assets.”

The second quarter was filled with “losses” and hacks across the web3 ecosystem — and many aren’t expecting it to slow down. Since the beginning of the year, over $2 billion has been lost to hacks and exploits — racking up an amount larger than the entirety of 2021 in half the time, the report stated.