Sonne Finance Refund Phishing Attack
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Sonne Finance is a decentralized lending protocol operating on Optimism and Base. Similar to platforms like Compound Finance and AAVE, Sonne allows users to lend assets, use them as collateral, and borrow against them. After a devastating attack, the protocol released a tweet with an update, but no refunds were available. A scammer created an account with high similarity to the original Sonne Finance account, linking to a website promising refunds. Users who connected their wallets would most likely find them drained.
This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
About Sonne Finance
"Sonne Finance is a decentralized lending protocol for individuals, institutions and protocols to access financial services. It is a permissionless, open source and Optimistic protocol serving users on Optimism. Users can deposit their assets, use them as collateral and borrow against them."
"Sonne Finance is an EVM compatible lending/borrowing protocol that launched on Optimism and expanded to Base. Sonne Finance provides peer-to-peer lending solutions that are fully decentralized, transparent and non-custodial.
Similar to (and based from) existing lending platforms like Compound Finance and AAVE users will be able to lend any supported assets on our platform, and use their capital to borrow supported assets."
"Sonne aims to be the prime lending platform on Optimism and Base by offering highest competitive incentives for money markets, having the deepest liquidity and being native to Optimism."
"Sonne User Compensation & Refunds are Live
Due to the recent exploit, all protocol users are being issued a compensatory refund."
"Sonne Refunds are Now Live!
All protocol users are being issued a compensatory refund."
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 |
|---|---|---|
| May 14th, 2024 6:11:00 PM MDT | Update Posted By Sonne Finance team. | |
| May 18th, 2024 9:29:00 PM MDT | Refund Scam Thread Posted | Scam refund post is made. |
Technical Details
This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?
Total Amount Lost
The total amount lost is unknown.
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?
Individual Prevention Policies
No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.
For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.
Platform Prevention Policies
Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.
For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.
Regulatory Prevention Policies
No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.
For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.
References
- ↑ Sonne Finance (May 21, 2024)
- ↑ @SonneFinance Twitter (May 21, 2024)
- ↑ Sonne Finance (May 21, 2024)
- ↑ Introduction | Sonne (May 21, 2024)