EOS Migration Phishing Attacks

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EOS

EOS migrated from the Ethereum blockchain to it's own EOS blockchain in June 2018, and users needed to migrate their tokens across to the new chain. The confusion of the migration created an opportunity for scammers to give users instructions to send their tokens to them instead of properly transferring them. One of these phishing attacks was launched through the official support system of Block.one, granting the appearance of legitimacy. One such user who fell for the attack lost 5,158 EOS, worth around $65k at the time. It is unclear if any of the lost funds were recovered.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About EOS

"EOS is a platform that uses the blockchain technology for the development of decentralized applications (dapps), very similar to Ethereum in function. As a matter of fact, supporters have dubbed it as the “Ethereum killer”. By providing an operating-system-like set of services and features that dapps can make use of, it makes dapp development very easy."

"EOSIO is a highly performant open-source blockchain platform, built to support and operate safe, compliant, and predictable digital infrastructures." "EOSIO is a leading open-source software for blockchain innovation and performance. As one of the most performant, customizable, and secure blockchains available, it offers industry-leading speed, scalability, configurability, and the latest security standards." "Block.one is also the originator of EOSIO, the leading open-source blockchain software that provides developers and businesses with the tools to build the infrastructure of tomorrow."

"On June 2, 2018, EOS transitioned from the Ethereum network to the EOS MainNet chain." "If the EOS tokens you have now in your Ethereum wallet have not been registered by the deadline date (1 June 2018 22:59:59 UTC/GMT), then your EOS tokens will not be part of the snapshot that will be taken shortly after this deadline. And if your EOS tokens are not in this snapshot, they may as well not exist. Why? Because after block.one releases EOS.IO 1.0 on 2 June 2018, any entity that decides to launch an EOS platform that adopts the EOS.IO software will be looking at this snapshot to decide who should receive via “airdrops” its own variant of EOS “coins.”"

"Block.one wishes to remind EOS ERC-20 token holders, in addition to third parties holding such tokens for others, of their risks and responsibilities under the EOS Token Contract, specifically in relation to the registration of tokens prior to the June 1, 2018 token freeze. All concerned are advised to carefully review the EOS Token Purchase Agreement, as revised on September 4, 2017."

"On May 27, 2018, members of the EOS.IO community found themselves the target of a phishing campaign." "The phishing attack involved an email that was sent out to several members of the EOS community — people who had been in email communication with block.one — that included a link to a scam website pretending to be an official site for EOS token registration ahead of the upcoming mainnet launch. This attack was quite sophisticated in that some of the emails sent out actually came from block.one’s Zendesk support system, which had been temporarily breached when these emails were sent."

"The fraudulent email had the words “upcoming June 1st update” in its subject line. The website referenced in the email — “eoslaunch.io” — is not in any way associated with block.one. According to the results of a WHOIS lookup, the “eoslaunch.io” domain was registered by GoDaddy on 26 May 2018. This means that this phishing scam could have only started on this date."

"Block.one says that it “learned of this matter quickly after it occurred.” It seems as though they were first alerted to this scam when Reddit user “designeey” made a post on 27 May 2018 on the EOS Subredit with the subject line “Please Help!! Scammed by developers@block.one email”, in which he claimed that he had become the victim of a phishing attack, as a result of which 5,158 EOS tokens (at press time, according to data from CryptoCompare, worth around $61,500) were stolen."

"Block.one says that as soon as it heard about this attack it sent out an email to all the users that had received the phishing email via its Zendesk system. The company has temporarily shut down its Zendesk support system so that it can investigate how this system was breached."

"This message is to inform you that several members of the EOSIO community received a phishing email on May 27 that included a link to a scam website claiming to be able to register EOS Tokens ahead of the end of the EOS Token distribution. Some of these emails came from the Block.one Zendesk support system, which was temporarily breached when the message was sent."

"This message, which contains the words “upcoming June 1st update!” in its subject line, is not an official Block.one communication. The website it references, eoslaunch.io, has been flagged as a scam by the Ethereum Phishing Detector and it is in no way affiliated with Block.one or EOSIO. Block.one has not released any new site."

"Block.one learned of this matter quickly after it occurred and sent an email to the addresses that received the phishing message to warn users. The company has also temporarily shut down Zendesk as it investigates the matter. As a result, users may experience slightly longer delays than normal for support responses and we apologize for any inconvenience caused."

"Block.one is also investigating the method by which the sender of the phishing email was able to mimic or utilize actual Block.one email addresses. We believe that the sender had access to certain Block.one systems and may have seen emails sent to or from email addresses related to Block.one and its affiliates. Through that access, the sender may have seen personal information if it was communicated in an email."

"Block.one takes information security seriously and we encourage everyone in the community to remain on high alert for scams, phishing, hacks and other activities from bad actors as the end of the token distribution occurs."

"Block.one released an EOSIO 1.0 Update on May 15. Additional official information on the token freeze and registration can be found on the Block.one website and at our GitHub."

"We will continue to keep you informed with new information as it becomes available and will work hard to fight off potential future attacks."

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - EOS Migration Phishing Attacks

Date	Event	Description
May 26th, 2018 4:06:22 PM	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $62,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Prevention Policies

Users who self-custody funds need to pay special attention to the source of communication and only ever interact with the official website of the token or protocol which they are using. It is far safer to wait and assess the legitimacy of any communication before proceeding with any transfer.

Most exchange platforms handled the upgrade for users.