Blockchain Security Firm Says Pink Drainer Responsible for $4.4 Million LINK Exploit

Author

David Pokima

Author

David Pokima

About Author

David is a finance journalist and a contributor to Cryptonews.com with a keen interest in breaking comprehensive, accurate, and reliable blockchain news.

Author Profile

Share

Copied

Last updated:

December 29, 2023 04:28 EST

Why Trust Cryptonews

Cryptonews has covered the cryptocurrency industry topics since 2017, aiming to provide informative insights to our readers. Our journalists and analysts have extensive experience in market analysis and blockchain technologies. We strive to maintain high editorial standards, focusing on factual accuracy and balanced reporting across all areas - from cryptocurrencies and blockchain projects to industry events, products, and technological developments. Our ongoing presence in the industry reflects our commitment to delivering relevant information in the evolving world of digital assets. Read more about Cryptonews

Cryptocurrency hacking group, Pink Drainer has been linked to the recent $4.4 million LINK user drain, increasing the number of their victims to 9,068 with a total of $18.7 million stolen.

According to on-chain analytics firm Etherscan, another user has fallen victim through an increased allowance transaction. The user was drained of about 275,700 LINK worth approximately $4.4 million from two separate transactions.

another victim lost $4.4 million worth of LINK to phishing scams about 2 hours ago.https://t.co/B4Z3yWrH7e https://t.co/6n6m0lZQK4 pic.twitter.com/6zSWTp8G6d

— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) December 29, 2023

The first flagged transaction was 68,925 LINK to Pink Drainer as noted by Etherscan while a subsequent transaction of 206,775 LINK was sent to another wallet.

Several analysts have confirmed the incident and highlighted the need for more vigilance as the hacking group has been linked to more scams in the past adding that some accounts might be vulnerable.

Reddit user jbtravel84 gave an analysis on the issue flagging wallets linked to the incidents warning funds are getting swapped to Ethereum (ETH) and moved into intermediary addresses adding that a little more investigation might reveal the culprits behind the wallets.

According to the analysts, the hacker is linked to a popular hacking group that has carried out multiple scams previously. The incident has sparked outrage among users in the industry calling for more disclosure and on holders to exercise extra caution.

Scam Sniffer has noted that Pink Drainer is responsible for the theft and marked 10 fraudulent websites linked to the hacking group in the last 24 hours. It is still unclear how the victim began interacting with the fraudulent website.

Pink Drainer unending scams

This incident is not the first time the infamous group has struck stealing millions from victims unfortunately adding to the list of growing industry scam numbers.

In June, the group was linked to a scam involving $3.3 million from 2,300 victims. Scam Sniffer noted that the bad actors posed as journalists from digital asset news websites conducting interviews leading up to a Know-your-customer process and then the final compromise.

“Hackers send phishing links through Discord accounts they’ve gained access to. Many users have opened malicious websites in error and signed malicious signatures, resulting in the loss of their assets.” 

The blockchain security firm analyzed several blockchains and concluded that all Discord attacks could be linked to the same group.

“By analyzing the malicious websites created by Pink Drainer in the past month, we found that many Discord hacks are related to them,” they added.

It was also reported that 216 users of the decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Slingshot were victims of an exploit in June. Per the report, the hacking group compromised the Twitter account of the platform and posted a false link to claim airdrops draining accounts in the process.