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MetaMask Warns Users About New Phishing Bot

source-logo  cryptovibes.com 04 May 2021 13:26, UTC

Cryptocurrency wallet provider MetaMask has alerted all its users of a new phishing bot that tries to steal their seed phrases. This phishing scam asks the users for their seed phrase in Google Docs from posing as an official support portal.

In a tweet published on May 3, MetaMask warned the users that the bot tries to direct users to an alleged ‘instant support’ portal where they are prompted to enter information into a Google Docs form.

🚨PHISHING ALERT!: a new type of phishing bot is becoming active. 🎣
👨🏻Comes from an account that looks “normal” (but few followers)
📑Helpfully suggests filling out a support form on a major site like Google sheets (hard to block).
🪝Asks for your secret recovery phrase. pic.twitter.com/EeHumnmzbE

— MetaMask (@MetaMask) May 3, 2021

The form then asks for the secret recovery phrase that can be used to respawn users’ crypto wallets. MetaMask said that it does not have a Google Docs-based support system, urging the users to seek support from the ‘Get Help’ option found within the MetaMask app itself to avoid getting scammed.

MetaMask also encourages the users to report scams that impersonate the wallet and its services, noting users can do so in the app. Despite MetaMask warning its users of the phishing bot, some of its users seem to have already been scammed, with one Twitter user saying:

“so there is no way to get back our token right ?”

Due to its growing popularity, MetaMask is one of the major targets for scammers and hackers. On April 27, ConsenSys, the developer behind the wallet, reported that it had hit a staggering five million active monthly users.

Phishing attacks are a social engineering technique that is used by scammers to lure users into completing an action that reveals their account details or personal information.

MetaMask detailed a “rotten seed phrase attack” in December 2021 in which a malicious site mimics the website of the wallet the user is now trying to install. The phony site generates a seed phrase that enables the scammers to control the wallet once it has been installed.

It is not just the beginner users who may fall victim to the phishing scams, with a hacker fooling Nexus Mutual founder Hugh Karp into transferring nearly 370,000 Nexus Mutual tokens (NXM) worth around $8 million to a wallet that was under their control at the end of 2021.

Ledger users have also been inundated with phishing trials, with two significant breaches of company servers resulting in the leaking of personal information including email addresses, physical addresses, and phone numbers.

cryptovibes.com