Security News > 2022 > January > Hackers Creating Fraudulent Crypto Tokens as Part of 'Rug Pull' Scams

Misconfigurations in smart contracts are being exploited by scammers to create malicious cryptocurrency tokens with the goal of stealing funds from unsuspecting users.

Smart contracts are programs stored on the blockchain that are automatically executed when predetermined conditions are met according to the terms of a contract or an agreement.

In another instance, a legitimate contract called Levyathan was hacked after its developers inadvertently uploaded the wallet's private key to their GitHub repository, enabling the exploiter to mint an infinite number of tokens and steal funds from the contract in July 2021.

A rug pull is a type of scam that happens when the creators cash out out the investors' money and abandon the project after a huge amount is allocated to what appears to be a legitimate crypto project.

The findings come as cyberattack campaigns have been observed leveraging phishing schemes built on lures surrounding soon-to-be-released crypto tokens to ultimately trick victims into paying for it with their own cryptocurrency.

"To avoid scam coins, I recommend crypto users to diversify their wallets, ignore ads, and test their transactions."

News URL

https://thehackernews.com/2022/01/hackers-creating-fraudulent-crypto.html