The Polygon Discord deal has been distributed to Avalanche and ZKC.
Avalanche and ZKsync Discord servers crashed within 48 hours of Polygon. Attackers have shared fake links promising free tokens while exploiting both communities. Avalanche fixed their problem within an hour, but the ZKsync violation has not yet been resolved.
Over the weekend, the blockchain community was rocked by a series of Discord server compromises that started with Polygon and quickly spread to Avalanche and ZDsync.
The incidents, which include promising fake token distributions, highlight the growing number of security breaches targeting cryptocurrency projects. In addition to undermining trust, these attacks pose significant risks to users' assets.
Phishing links shared after the Avalanche Discord agreement
In the year On August 25, Avalanche's official Discord server was compromised, with attackers posting fake links claiming to offer free AVAX tokens.
The official Avalanche account immediately reminded users not to link or click on any links shared on the compromised server. Screenshots from members of the Avalanche community reveal the nature of the scam, which promises bogus “distribution” schemes for AVAX tokens.
Avax discord watching sus…discussion on all channels and ad “I claim Avax from the foundation”.
My advice?
Don't click on anything in that mess… pic.twitter.com/x9MLy4vPeX
— Stog Chog🔺 (@stogchog) August 25, 2024
Avalanche community leader Ben Weil reported that the issue was resolved within an hour of detection and efforts are underway to restore normal server operation.
Update: The official Avalanche Discord is now secure and will be reopened when the CMs see fit.
— Avalanche 🔺 (@avax) August 25, 2024
Despite the swift response, the incident raised concerns about the vulnerability of major blockchain projects to similar exploits.
ZKsync Discord was hit by a simultaneous attack
The security breach on Avalanche was soon followed by another incident, this time affecting ZKsync. An hour after the Avalanche deal, the ZKsync Discord server was also hacked.
Attackers used a method of distributing fake links, where users were freed ZK tokens in a bogus “round 2 airdrop” scheme.
Although ZKsync has not publicly addressed the exploit on social media, several team members have acknowledged the issue on their Discord channels.
Crypto Discord server attacks are on the rise.
The recent attacks on Polygon, Avalanche and ZKsyncs' Discord are part of a troubling trend of high-profile breaches in the crypto community.
In the year On March 25, 2023, CertiK exposed a phishing scam on Arbitrum Discord, which used a hacked developer account to distribute a malicious link.
Similarly, on May 5, the Gnus.AI network suffered a Discord-related exploit, resulting in a loss of $1.27 million.
This sequence of breaches demonstrates the alarming level of coordinated attacks targeting popular blockchain platforms. The attacks, which include phishing schemes and fraudulent token distributions, not only threaten individual users, but also undermine the integrity of the affected projects.
