Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Warns Users About a Massive Ongoing SMS Phishing Scam

It is unclear how many Binance customers have been targeted with the scam so far or if other exchanges also make the target list for these scammers.

By Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee | Updated: 7 February 2022 14:52 IST

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao Warns Users About a Massive Ongoing SMS Phishing Scam

Photo Credit: Binance

The magnitude of the SMS attack is still unclear

Highlights

Crypto scams have been on the rise since the turn of the year
The fake SMS scam is spreading massively
The fake link in the SMS is designed to steal user login credentials

The CEO of Binance, one the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange platform, Changpeng Zao has warned its users against a massive SMS phishing scam. Zao noted that users were receiving an SMS message looking to harvest credentials by redirecting unsuspecting users to a malicious website. Zhao, who put out a series of tweets to alert users about the SMS scam, also urged users to always go to the Binance website via a bookmark or by typing it in on the browser to ensure they protect their credentials.

Changpeng Zhao's tweet comprises a screenshot, which is in a form of a text message which happens to be targeting the users of Binance. The source of the text message simulates that it comes from the exchange but carries a fraudulent link. Upon clicking, users are directed to a phishing website which then proceeds to harvest the credentials of the users to swindle off their funds once users enter their Binance credentials.

There is a massive Phishing scam via SMS with a link to cancel withdrawals. It leads to a phishing website to harvest your credential as in the screenshot below.

NEVER click on links from SMS!

Always go to https://t.co/9rMMAmtCxH via a bookmark or type it in.

Stay #SAFU pic.twitter.com/erNwe90FN1
— CZ ???? Binance (@cz_binance) February 4, 2022

It is still unclear if this form of phishing is only targeted towards Binance users. From what's known, they are the only ones affected. It is certain that other platforms are also on the target list. The number of Binance users who have been a victim of the recent phishing scam hasn't been reported or disclosed.

The crypto market has suffered a list of hack and scam attacks since the start of the year, leading to the loss of massive amounts of money. One of the biggest of its kind ever in crypto history happened some days ago involving a crypto platform named Wormhole Portal.

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The hack saw malicious actors swindle an aggregate sum of up to $322 million (roughly Rs. 2,410 crore) in Ethers. Before that hack, another security breach involved Crypto.com, which saw the crypto exchange lose more than $33 million (roughly Rs. 246.5 crore) to scammers. Traders have also been warned of a new malware deployed to target plugins.

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Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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