- Scammers are targeting Phantom Wallet users with fake pop-ups and malicious websites designed to steal seed phrases and drain funds.
- Scam Sniffer recommends checking URLs for “chrome extension,” testing window functionality, and avoiding sites that block right-click actions.
- Phantom Wallet has surpassed 10 million users, reached $3.6 million in daily revenue, and introduced multicurrency support for 16 currencies.
Phishing scammers target Phantom, a popular Solana-based cryptocurrency wallet, with impersonation pop-ups that mimic actual update prompts. The scams attempt to trick users into approving spurious “update extension” signoffs and then ask them to insert their seed phrases. After users fall victim and insert private keys, fraudsters access full wallets, draining funds and assets.
Web3 scam platform Scam Sniffer recently shared with X (formerly Twitter) regarding this current phishing campaign. The platform uncovered that scammers have been connecting to real Phantom wallets and using these manipulative techniques. Besides impersonating updates, scammers have even been developing suspicious websites with Phantom’s UI, tricking victims into handing over their seed phrases for spurious connection requests.
Scam Sniffer posted tips for identifying phishing operations in simple language to prevent its users from becoming victims of such scams. Users can attempt to right-click pop-ups, for pop-up windows of phishing operations will not permit such an act, but actual the wallet windows will not stop such an act.
Additionally, Scam Sniffer emphasized checking pop-up URLs—true ones will include “chrome-extension” in them and cannot be emulated. Ultimately, Phantom windows behave like system windows and can be maximized, minimized, and resized, but counterfeit ones can only be inserted in a browser tab.
Phantom Wallet Hits 10M Users and $3.6M Daily Revenue
The heightened demand for Solana memecoins spurred a boost in the wallet use, and it is a lucrative target for scammers. The wallet generated approximately $470,000 in a single day in fee earnings in the past 24 hours, according to DefiLlama. Phantom hit an all-time high of $3.6 million in fee earnings in a single day on January 19. Over 10 million monthly active addresses and over 850 million transactions have been processed via the wallet through 2024.
The wallet continues to innovate and expand its offerings. On February 6, launched 16 new currencies added multicurrency support via the platform, increasing its attraction. In January, Sequoia Capital and Paradigm raised $150 million for Phantom in a Series C funding, valuing Phantom at $3 billion. Unlike speculations about a token airdrop at an early stage in the current year, the wallet refuted such claims, choosing its new social discovery feature, designed to boost user engagement.
As use of Web3 continues to grow, scams for its users become even smarter. Phantom’s growing use comes with a reminder for its users to remain vigilant and knowledgeable in safeguarding assets in an ever-growing complex virtual environment.
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