Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, the CEO of Binance, has tweeted a warning to his followers about a scam.
Changpeng "CZ" Zhao Warns of Increasingly Popular Crypto Scam
Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, the CEO of Binance, has tweeted a warning to his followers about a scam that preys on the cryptocurrency industry and uses fake wallet addresses to trick consumers into making fraudulent purchases.
Scammers create addresses with the same initials and finals as the user's original address and send dust transactions to the target. The money will be sent to the scammer if the victim copies and pastes an address from one of the previous transactions.
On August 1, a seasoned cryptocurrency operator fell for this con and sent digital assets worth $20 million to the scammer's address. Right after the transaction, the operator discovered the mistake and asked Binance to freeze the Tether to prevent it from reaching the hacker. Binance was able to assist the operator in time to save $20 million.
By adopting a blockchain domain like the Ethereum Name Service, which enables users to identify wallets using common phrases, the scam might be averted.
Security experts advise users to use strong, unique passwords for their cryptocurrency accounts and to enable two-factor authentication on applications. They also advise users not to copy and paste addresses from applications when transferring money. Scams and phishing attempts involving Coinbase's services and applications have also been reported by victims.
