SBI Crypto was breached, losing $21 million in assets via a suspected laundering operation.
\nA phishing scam targeting GMGN tricked 107 users into approving fake transactions.
\nHoneypot token scams rose 600% month-on-month, with over 2,100 tokens detected.<\/p>\n
Web3 has entered a new phase of cyber threats, with attackers now leveraging artificial intelligence, automation tools, and complex social engineering to exploit users across decentralised networks.<\/p>\n
According to GoPlus Security<\/a>, over $45.84 million was lost in October alone from a surge of scams, phishing attacks, token exploits, and wallet hacks.<\/p>\n The data reveals how scammers are evolving their methods, creating high-impact exploits that have affected thousands of users and platforms across Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, and Base.<\/p>\n GoPlus observed a sharp increase in phishing attacks that led to more than $3.5 million in losses.<\/p>\n A growing number of these scams are powered by \u201cPhishing-as-a-Service\u201d platforms, where threat actors use AI tools to rapidly generate fake websites and deploy large-scale campaigns with lower operational costs.<\/p>\n One of the largest phishing cases involved the trading platform GMGN.<\/p>\n In this incident, 107 users were misled by a fake third-party website into authorising harmful transactions. Losses totalled more than $700,000.<\/p>\n The phishing scam replicated legitimate wallet interactions, tricking victims into signing approval requests that gave attackers control over their funds.<\/p>\n In another case, a trader approved a malicious \u201cincreaseAllowance\u201d command, resulting in a $325,000 loss in Coinbase Wrapped Bitcoin.<\/p>\n Separately, another user was hit with a $440,000 loss after signing a fraudulent \u201cpermit\u201d transaction.<\/p>\n Both exploits highlight the rise in fake contract approvals, often enabled by deceptive interfaces mimicking trusted apps.<\/p>\n The single largest exploit came from SBI Crypto, which suffered a breach that drained $21 million worth of digital assets. The losses included Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.<\/p>\n Although SBI Crypto did not officially confirm the source of the breach, a joint investigation by ZachXBT and Cyvers suggested patterns similar to those used by North Korean hacker groups.<\/p>\n The attackers allegedly funnelled funds through Tornado Cash, a known crypto mixer previously sanctioned for its role in laundering state-sponsored thefts.<\/p>\n This laundering method closely mirrors activity linked to the Lazarus Group, though the report stressed that the connection remains unverified.<\/p>\n Alongside phishing and exploits, the report found a dramatic spike in honeypot tokens.<\/p>\n These are malicious smart contracts that allow users to buy tokens but prevent them from selling or withdrawing funds.<\/p>\n Honeypot tokens surged 600% last month, reaching 2,189 identified tokens\u2014though still far fewer than the 40,000 recorded in June 2025.<\/p>\n Source: GoPlus Security<\/a><\/p>\n The Binance Smart Chain accounted for the bulk of these tokens at 1,780, followed by 216 on Ethereum and 131 on Base.<\/p>\n These tokens are embedded with hidden restrictions that block transactions, stranding investor funds in illiquid assets.<\/p>\n Their increase underscores a shift toward embedded contract-level fraud, which can bypass basic security tools.<\/p>\n The wider ecosystem also saw losses from social media and platform-based breaches.<\/p>\n Astra Nova\u2019s official social account was hijacked, triggering a large-scale sell-off of its native token RVV and causing losses of approximately $10.3 million.<\/p>\n In a separate exploit, decentralised finance platform Garden Finance was hit with a vulnerability that cost users around $10.8 million, according to ZachXBT.<\/p>\n These incidents reflect a widening surface of attack across both user-facing interfaces and backend contract code.<\/p>\n The post AI-driven phishing scams and hidden crypto exploits shake Web3 security<\/a> appeared first on CoinJournal<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" SBI Crypto was breached, losing $21 million in assets via a suspected laundering operation. A phishing scam targeting GMGN tricked 107 users into approving fake transactions. Honeypot token scams rose 600% month-on-month, with over 2,100 tokens detected. Web3 has entered a new phase of cyber threats, with attackers now leveraging artificial intelligence, automation tools, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":5438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[100],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5440","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ethereum"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digkrypton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digkrypton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digkrypton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digkrypton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/digkrypton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5440\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digkrypton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digkrypton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digkrypton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digkrypton.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Hackers use AI and automation to boost phishing campaigns<\/h2>\n
Sophisticated exploits linked to state-style laundering tactics<\/h2>\n
Web3 platforms under attack from honeypot tokens<\/h2>\n
Tokens and socials compromised in wider exploits<\/h2>\n