SIM converters hit Manifold Trading, founders of Rug Radio, before the holidays
Sim-swap attacks have escalated over the past 48 hours with attacks on Manifold Trading, RagRadio and other cryptocurrency influencers – some of whom lost control of their accounts on X (formerly Twitter). ).
On December 22, a SIM Swap hacker managed to take control of the official X account of Manifold Trading, along with co-founder Jay Chung, by posting a series of malicious links to crypto drainers.
Chung confirmed to Cointelegraph that the hack was a result of a SIM-swap attack where the account was protected by an email address and password. Chung confirmed that only his and Maniford's Twitter accounts were affected and that any “fund-sensitive” accounts were safe. He added that steps are being taken to save the accounts and restore their normal operations.
Everyone is switching sims. It can easily be avoided by not using Verizon, ATT or any other standard carrier.
There are literally ANTY SIM SWAP services that you can avail. You can literally get Verizon service by bypassing the waiting middle man.
— borovik.eth (@3orovik) December 21, 2023
On December 21, Farooq, the founder of Rugged Radio, was also the victim of a SIM swap attack, but confirmed to his followers that his phone was not linked to his Twitter account. Rag Radio recently announced a merger with crypto publication Decrypt on December 10th.
SIM cleared.
Phone number not linked to Twitter but please be aware.
My phone is in trouble, don't trust anything that comes from me.
— Farokh (@farokh) December 21, 2023
SIM swap hacking is a different type of scam where attackers take over a victim's phone number, allowing them to access bank accounts, credit cards, and crypto-related accounts that rely solely on SMS verification.
The best way to avoid a SIM-swap attack is to ensure that any two-factor authentication is not linked to a mobile number.
RELATED: Security Audits ‘Not Enough' As Losses Hit $1.5B By 2023, Security Expert Says
In the year In an Aug. 23 post on X, Blockchain sleuth ZachXBT urged users of crypto apps to use an authenticator app, such as Google Authenticator, to avoid the risk of someone's telecommunications data being stolen.
In the past four months, $13.3M+ has been stolen in 54 SIM swaps targeting people in the crypto space.
When an account is compromised, fraudsters try to create a sense of urgency with false claims to drain your assets.
Never use SMS 2FA and instead use… pic.twitter.com/Fu1C3syQJE
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) August 23, 2023
In the four months before August, hackers managed to steal more than $13.3 million from 54 high-profile individuals, he added.
The recent spate of exploit attacks shows a growing trend of attackers targeting crypto-related projects and users.
On October 4, several users of social finance platform Friend.tech took to Twitter to share that they were victims of a SIM-swap exploit.
Anonymous user “froggie.eth” warned that their friends.tech account was accessed via SIM swap. Attackers then accessed the Friend.tech account and withdrew more than 20 Ether (ETH) – worth $44,000 at the time.
Magazine: Diffie's Billion Dollar Secret: Insiders Responsible for Hacking
