Fake Website Posing as Sony’s Soneium Blockchain Reportedly Found in Google Search

Soneium is a layer-2 network built atop Ethereum.

Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 22 October 2024 19:02 IST

Fake Website Posing as Sony’s Soneium Blockchain Reportedly Found in Google Search

Photo Credit: Unsplash

Sony worked with Startale Labs to create Soneium

Highlights

Soneium was launched in August this year
Scammers behind the fake Soneium page on Google remain unknown
USDC-issuer Circle working with Soneium to expand its ecosystem

Sony's newly launched blockchain network, Soneium, appears to have become a target for crypto scammers. To deceive users, malicious actors are reportedly circulating harmful links that appear in Google search results for ‘Soneium.' Scam Sniffer, a Web3 anti-scam tool, issued a warning about this growing threat to the global Web3 community. Meanwhile, since September, Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, has been collaborating to expand its ecosystem via Soneium.

In an alert posted on X, Scam Sniffer warned that anyone landing on this fake page impersonating Soneium risks losing their assets to cybercriminals.

“Phishing always happens when you're not paying attention, even if you mistakenly spell 'soneium' as 'someium',” the anti-scam platform noted.

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⚠️ Searched for Soneium on Google, clicked a phishing ad.
After connecting your wallet and signing a phishing signature, your assets disappeared... 😱💸 pic.twitter.com/5Hpi9OTZ4S
— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) October 22, 2024

The criminals behind the scam link on Google Search could be exposing an estimated 4.97 billion users to potential financial risks.

As per Scam Sniffer, the infected links are carrying a peculiar domain suffix that differs from the one present on the original Soneium website. The fake website's domain suffix indicates like it is linked to a landing page of a British radiology service, said a report by CoinTelegraph citing an interaction with Scam Sniffer.

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Members of the crypto community have been warned against engaging with any suspicious website that seems to be imitating Soneium. Neither Sony nor the team behind Soneium have addressed the situation as of now. Google has also not commented on the development.

Launched in August this year, Soneium is a layer-2 network built atop Ethereum. Sony collaborated with Startale Labs, the team behind Astar Network, to create this blockchain network that comes as a testimony to Sony's willingness to explore the Web3 arena.

A note published on the official site of Soneium said this blockchain is being designed on the basics of ‘open Internet' to encourage the creation of decentralised landscape for entertainment, gaming, and finance sectors among others.

The verified official X handle for Soneium, @soneium, was established in February of this year and has since gained over 77,900 followers.

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Further reading: Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Sony, Soneium, Google

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More