‘Massive Phishing Scam’ Targets Binance Customers As CEO CZ Warns Users To Be Cautious

• CZ exposes a new SMS phishing scam.
• The executive warns users not to click links from SMS.
• Over $100 million has already been lost this year to crypto scammers.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao took to Twitter to notify users of a new SMS phishing strategy. The year is still in its early stages, but the crypto ecosystem has already lost huge sums to scams.

Never Click On Links From SMS

Binance’s CEO took to the microblogging platform Twitter to expose a new phishing strategy by scammers. It appears that the scammers via SMS notify Binance users of a withdrawal attempt by third parties on their account, urging them to cancel the attempt and protect their account by clicking a link embedded in the message.

“There is a massive Phishing scam via SMS with a link to cancel withdrawals. It leads to a phishing website to harvest your credentials as in the screenshot below. NEVER click on links from SMS! Always go to binance.com via a bookmark or type it in.”

A statement released by a spokesperson noted that the warning by CZ using his official Twitter handle was aimed at bringing attention to SMS phishing ploys in general. The tweet, while referencing one such exploit, does not claim to cover all the phishing scams targeted at the global exchange.

Whether this new strategy has been successful in any way is not yet known. There has yet to be any statement acknowledging the loss of funds or revealing the number of people affected by the scam. Many lauded the CEO’s effort in the comments, with one user tweeting, “you are always there for your people.”

Phishing scams are nothing new in the crypto world, with Binance making a pledge to assist law enforcement in fishing out these bad actors last year. The exchange in the statement said, “we are committed to continuing working with regulators across the globe to weed out bad actors and blaze a trail for the industry to grow and innovate in a responsible manner.”

2022 Already Rife With Crypto Exploits

Crypto scams are nothing new, but they have spiked in recent years as the crypto industry grows in diversity and use cases. Platforms like Discord, YouTube, Telegram, and even Twitter are among the popular channels used by cybercriminals to carry out these scams.

Though still early in the year, over $100 million has been lost to hackers and fraudsters in the crypto world already. Most recently, the Qubit DeFi platform reported that they had lost $80 million in crypto to hackers on the 27th of January. This was just days after the global exchange Crypto.com admitted to a breach that cost users about $34 million.

Scams and hacks are showing little signs of slowing down in the crypto world, leaving many users to lose their funds. However, users can protect themselves by adopting a proactive approach and following tips by exchanges and regulatory authorities.