Crypto Scams, Exploits Alarmingly Stole $103 Million from Investors in April 2023: Report
The two most common types of crypto scams that extracted the most funds as per CertiK are — exit scams and flash loans.
Advertisement
Written by Radhika Parashar, Edited by Richa Sharma | Updated: 1 May 2023 17:19 IST
Highlights
Scammers bank on the anonymity of crypto transactions
Exit scams fetched $9.3 million (roughly Rs. 75 crore) in crypto crimes
Flash loans brought in $19.8 million (roughly Rs. 160 crore)
Crypto scammers have also increased their attacks on the Indian crypto community
Photo Credit: Pixabay/ WorldSpectrum
Cyber hackers and scammers, fishing for victims from the crypto sector, have upped their game and are now bagging bigger rewards by the day for their illegal activities. A new report from blockchain research firm CertiK estimates that a whopping amount of $103 million (roughly Rs. 840 crore) was stolen in crypto exploits in April 2023. Notorious actors have been targeting the crypto community because one scam could earn them thousands of dollars from investors. Besides, crypto transactions are largely anonymous that makes the traceability of stolen funds close to impossible.
The two most common types of crypto scams that extracted the most funds, as per CertiK, are — exit scams and flash loans.
In exit scams, convincing-looking businesses keep accepting payments for whatever product or service they are selling, while abandoning already accepted orders or requests. Often categorised as a ‘confidence trick', exit scams were used to steal $9.3 million (roughly Rs. 75 crore) from the crypto sector in April 2023.
Flash loans, however, brought more to the scammers and hackers in these instances of cyber loot.
As per CertiK's analysis, crypto criminals stole $19.8 million (roughly Rs. 160 crore) by offering limitless borrowing of uncollaterised loans. This way, lenders who need immediate loans borrows and returns the funds in the same transaction, draining the victims' accounts.
The exploit of multiple trading bots on April 3 resulted in the loss of $25.4 million (roughly Rs. 210 crore). Later, $22 million (roughly Rs. 180 crore) were lost in the Bitrue hot wallet exploit, followed by the theft of $13 million (roughly Rs. 105 crore) on South Korea's GDAC exchange.
In the last four months of 2023, CertiK estimates $429.7 million (roughly Rs. 3,510 crore) were stolen by crypto scammers and hackers.
Some users of the KuCoin exchange have collectively lost over $22,000 (roughly Rs. 20 lakh) after the Twitter account of the crypto exchange was briefly hacked on April 24.
Criminal activities from crypto scammers also picked up pace in India. Back in March, crypto hackers promoted a fake airdrop event of the Ripple (XRP) stablecoin in India, after they hacked the Twitter account of News24. These posts also showed malicious links to unsuspecting victims to click on and expose themselves to financial risks.
The Vivo X90 Pro has finally made its debut in India, but is the company's flagship smartphone for 2023 equipped with enough upgrades over its predecessor? We discuss this and more on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.
UAE Plans to Launch Digital Dirham CBDC, Integrated Wallet in Q4 202528 March 2025
Search
![[Sponsored] 10 Reasons to Buy Samsung Galaxy Book5 Series Laptops](https://c.ndtvimg.com/2025-03/6gg1i738_samsung-laptops_160x120_28_March_25.jpg?downsize=180:*)
![Gadgets 360 With Technical Guruji: Ask TG [ March 22, 2025]](https://c.ndtvimg.com/2024-12/5s52e4k_-ask-tg_640x480_14_December_24.jpg?downsize=180:*)
