Karma Hits Pink Drainer Through Address Poisoning Scam

Pink Drainer, a notorious group known for draining wallets, recently fell victim to an address poisoning scam, according to crypto compliance platform MistTrack. The hacking group lost 10 ETH, valued at approximately $30,000, to a fraudulent wallet address in late June.

Fake Addresses

Address poisoning occurs when scammers send small amounts of cryptocurrency via a similar-looking address to a legitimate wallet. MistTrack explained that scammers create addresses with a few characters altered to resemble the address of the target, hoping they will mistakenly send funds to the fake address.

MistTrack highlighted that scammers use bots to monitor transactions and capitalize on victims copying the scam address instead of the address of their intended recipient. In this case, Pink Drainer mistakenly sent 10 ETH to a wallet address that closely resembled its legitimate address, resulting in the loss.

A Recurring Issue

Pink Drainer had recently announced its retirement after allegedly helping to steal over $85 million in crypto assets since July 2023. Despite its cessation, other similar services like Angel Drainer and Venom Drainer continue to facilitate crypto theft activities.

Crypto addresses themselves are difficult to hack directly due to their cryptographic nature, but users can fall victim to scams or phishing attacks that trick them into sending funds to fraudulent addresses. These scams often exploit human error or vulnerabilities in wallet software rather than directly hacking the addresses themselves. Therefore, while the addresses themselves are secure, users must remain vigilant to avoid falling prey to scams and social engineering tactics.