DxDex Airdrop Phishing Campaign
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Millions of users received airdropped tokens directly into their wallet. When attempting to transfer them, they are instructed that they need to first claim them on the DxDex website. Copying the website text and linking to a CoinTelegraph article about ExoniumDex, the DxDex appears to offer a promising new technology and establishes credibility with users, who are prompted to connect their wallet to "Unlock" the tokens. In reality, the transaction they are approving is one which grants the scammers full access to withdraw the remaining tokens from their wallet. It is reported by Coinbase that over $15m was taken through these and similar scams, and the tactics and domain used are constantly evolving.
This is a global/international case not involving a specific country. [1][2][3][4][5][6]
About DxDex
"Unifying the Entire Financial Ecosystem. DxDEX is a decentralised exchange (DEX) primarily designed to be a unifying exchange of all cryptocurrencies and synthetic assets."
"DxDEX will be used to support trading for all kinds of cryptocurrency projects and traditional assets, providing significant liquidity to the decentralised finance (DEFI) universe by being all-inclusive."
"As a one-stop DEX, DxDEX will be positioned as a pivotal platform in the cryptocurrency space, allowing inter-exchange of all coins regardless of blockchain technology in a safe, transparent and permissionless environment."
"The campaign works by airdropping fictitious coins into victim wallets and enticing them to visit specially-crafted malicious websites." "When users attempt to interact with the airdropped tokens such as transferring them to a Decentralized Exchange (DEX), they are presented with an error message encouraging them to visit a malicious phishing website."
"The website presents users with a Decentralized Application (DApp) interface supposedly meant to connect their wallets and approve trading of the airdrop tokens. However, when users approve any transactions on the phishing website, in reality they are unknowingly approving a transfer of their personal tokens to the scammers."
"The scammers change airdrop token names and phishing websites frequently to evade blocklists; however, they still use the same tactics to steal tokens using fake airdrops and malicious Dapps."
"Coinbase Threat Intelligence, Special Investigations, and Global Intelligence teams have been tracking [this] ongoing phishing campaign on Ethereum, Polygon, Binance Smart Chain, and other EVM-compatible platforms which has unfortunately resulted in the theft of more than $15M in various crypto assets" during October 2021.
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.
| Date | Event | Description |
|---|---|---|
| October 8th, 2021 5:27:55 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 $15,000,000 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
Keep the majority of funds offline in a wallet which you don't use to interact with anything on a regular basis.
Always carefully check any transaction which is being approved. Use a new wallet which only contains the minimum coins required when interacting with an untrusted source, after careful research into whatever service you are planning to use.
Be especially careful when something appears to be provided for free. It is recommended to avoid interacting with airdropped tokens in general, especially when received from an unknown source.
References
- ↑ https://blog.coinbase.com/security-psa-airdrop-phishing-campaign-38b880c0298a (May 31, 2022)
- ↑ Phisher Watch Airdrop Scams (Jul 2, 2022)
- ↑ Home | tDEX (Jul 2, 2022)
- ↑ Home | tDEX (Jul 2, 2022)
- ↑ Home | tExo (Jul 2, 2022)
- ↑ TradFi meets DeFi: Decentralized platform vows to bring all financial services on-chain (Jul 2, 2022)