诈骗 · 2881

The US IRS warns of a new type of cryptocurrency phishing attack: forged letters use QR codes to steal private wallet keys

According to CoinDesk, according to CoinDesk, the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a warning that an advanced email phishing campaign targeting US cryptocurrency holders is spreading. By falsifying official tax letters, attackers induce users to scan malicious QR codes to steal encrypted wallet credentials and private keys. According to reports, the attackers impersonated the IRS to send paper letters, used names such as “tax compliance” and “account verification” to create a sense of urgency, and attached QR codes to the letters. Once scanned, users may be directed to a counterfeit website, which in turn leaks wallet login information, mnemonic words, or private keys, leading to the theft of digital assets. The IRS reminds taxpayers that official agencies will not require users to provide private cryptographic wallet keys, mnemonics, or perform similar “wallet verification” operations through unofficial channels. Cryptocurrency holders should be wary of any suspicious emails and letters asking to scan QR codes, connect to wallets, or submit sensitive information. As the number of crypto asset holders expands, social engineering attacks on digital wallets continue to increase, and regulators and security agencies are stepping up prevention reminders about related fraudulent activities.

1d ago#On-chain dynamics

BounceBit Chain updates vulnerability attack progress: will permanently shut down the chain and migrate to BNB Chain

Comparatively, cross-chain revenue protocol BanceBit issued a security incident announcement stating that its blockchain network was attacked by a protocol-level vulnerability attack between 8:02 UTC on August 19 and 01:54 UTC on August 20. The attackers used authorization flaws in the Evmos underlying architecture to transfer BB tokens from 9 main network accounts without the authorization of the account owners. According to the announcement, the attackers transferred a total of approximately 286.5 million BBs through 14 transactions. The impact of the incident was limited to BanceBit Chain itself, and did not involve private key leaks, signature forgery, wallet, hardware devices, or exchange account security issues. BanceBit CeDeFi Strategy, Promo Vaults, Prime, and RWA products were not affected. BounceBit stated that the vulnerability stemmed from a protocol native module authorization verification flaw in the Evmos architecture. When calling the relevant module through a smart contract, the attackers bypass security checks that should verify the authorization relationship of the fund source account, making it possible to specify any account as the source of funds. After the incident, BounceBit Chain stopped generating blocks at block height 20,702,857, then the team decided not to upgrade the chain, but to permanently shut down Bouncbit Chain and re-issue BB as an BEP-20 token based on BNB Chain. BounceBit stated that the new BB token supply will be based on an on-chain snapshot before the first abnormal transfer (block height 20,697,260), and the 286,543,148 BBs transferred by the attackers will not be included in the new token balance. Users do not need to submit an application or migrate their wallets, and the official plan is to automatically distribute the new BB to the corresponding BNB Chain addresses. Regarding the BB in the pledge, BounceBit said it will be restored as soon as the snapshot is in time, and there is no need for coin holders to perform unbundling or redemption operations. Currently, BounceBit has submitted requests for suspension and assistance to relevant exchanges, and reminds users to be wary of scams and not to click on any BB migration or receipt links that have not been officially confirmed. The team said that the new BEP-20 BB contract address and reissue progress will be announced later. This article is sponsored by GENG, Build Your Fortune on GENG (https://geng.one)

1d agoburnking

TRM Labs: AI applications in crypto crime grew 40% in the past year

Comparative news, according to The Block, TRM Labs latest report shows that artificial intelligence applications in crypto crimes have increased 40% year-on-year over the past year, mainly driven by fraudulent activity. According to the report, crypto hackers are increasingly using artificial intelligence for vulnerability analysis, social engineering attacks, and infiltration. In the first half of 2026, there were 201 digital asset hacking attacks, a record high. Of these, about 75% of losses came from 4% of incidents, and North Korea-related activities caused about 600 million US dollars in losses, accounting for 61% of losses in the first half of the year. According to TRM Labs, artificial intelligence has not created new types of crime, but it has significantly lowered the threshold of crime and expanded the scale of attacks. This article is sponsored by GENG, Build Your Fortune on GENG (https://geng.one)

1d agoburnking

US IRS: Warning Cryptocurrency Holders Not to Scan QR Codes in Fake Letters

Comparing news, Bitcoin News posted an article on the X platform stating that the US IRS warned that cryptocurrency holders may receive official letters mailed by fraudsters in the near future, leading recipients to the fake “Digital Asset Compliance Portal.” The letter contains a QR code. After scanning, you will be directed to a fake IRS website, which may request personal information, wallet information, exchange account credentials, or other sensitive data. The IRS said it did not operate a platform called the “Digital Asset Compliance Portal,” nor did it send these letters. According to reports, Coinbase and DarkTower have traced the infrastructure behind the campaign to a recently registered domain name hosted in Romania. If you receive this type of letter, please do not scan the QR code or provide any information.

2d ago

Rapid7 Reveals Crypto Phishing: Targeting 885,000 Mobile Numbers and Involving 5,576 Binance Accounts

According to Twitter news, cybersecurity company Rapid7 revealed a cryptophishing operation called Operation Asterix, which targeted around 885,000 mobile phone numbers in multiple countries and directed victims to fake wallet service websites. 5576 mobile phone numbers have been matched to Binance user accounts and placed in the attack queue. The attackers used fake apps impersonating Ledger, Trezor, and Exodus to steal mnemonics while also using fake customer service emails and phone calls to contact victims. Rapid7 also found that 4,3066 of Germany's more than 316,000 mobile phone numbers matched crypto trading accounts, with a hit rate of around 13.6%. Related attacks also included batch phone number verification tools for Kraken accounts. The investigation found that AI tools were heavily used in phishing operations. Data from blockchain security firm Hacken shows that phishing attacks and social engineering scams caused $306 million in losses in the first quarter of this year, accounting for most of the crypto industry's total loss of $482 million. This article is sponsored by GENG, Build Your Fortune on GENG (https://geng.one)

2d agoburnking

Xu Jiayin was sentenced to life imprisonment and Evergrande Group fined 8.82 billion yuan

Comparatively, on the morning of August 20, 2026, the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court of Guangdong Province handed down a public verdict in the first instance of the case of Evergrande Group Co., Ltd., Evergrande Real Estate Group Co., Ltd. and defendant Xu Jiayin. The court punished Evergrande Group for several crimes, with a fine of RMB 8.82 billion; a fine of RMB 7 billion for Evergrande Real Estate; Xu Jiayin was punished with a combination of crimes, life imprisonment, deprivation of political rights for life, and confiscation of all personal property; and continued to recover the illegal proceeds, and ordered compensation for the shortfall. The court found that Xu Jiayin is the actual controller of Evergrande Group. Between 2016 and 2021, Evergrande Group, Evergrande Real Estate and Xu Jiayin inflated assets, concealed liabilities by means of financial fraud, carried out crimes such as illegal absorption of public deposits, fund-raising fraud, fraudulent issuance of securities, and illegal disclosure of important information; obtained control of financial institutions through bribery, and illegally withdrew credit and insurance funds. Xu Jiayin also used his position to facilitate organizational financial fraud and usurped the company's assets in the name of dividends. The court found that the relevant acts seriously disrupted the order of the market economy, that the amount of the crime was particularly huge, the circumstances were particularly egregious, and that they were severely punished according to law. On the same day, two courts in Shenzhen also ruled on cases involving Evergrande involving illegal absorption of public deposits and fund-raising fraud. 56 people, including Zhen Litao, Ke Peng, Xu Tenghe, and Xu Zhijian, were sentenced to fixed-term sentences ranging from 18 years to 1 year and 10 months, as well as fines or confiscation of property.

2d ago

Australian ASIC: Removed more than 3,100 crypto scams in a single fiscal year, and deep AI falsified it as the main modus operandi

In comparison, according to Bitcoin.com, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) revealed that more than 19,400 online scams were removed in the 2026 fiscal year (surging 182% year over year), including 3,106 cryptocurrency investment fraud platforms, an increase of about 30% over the previous fiscal year. ASIC pointed out that fraud gangs are making extensive use of generative AI technology to build a systemic fraud ecosystem: by falsifying deep falsification videos of famous people such as Australian Prime Minister Albanese and financial commentators, to use fake cryptographic trading robots and simultaneously build counterfeit media websites, AI-generated reviews, and false income dashboards to induce victims to continue to invest more, and the funds eventually flow to overseas criminal gangs. Only one high-profile person was fraudulently used, and the related losses have already exceeded 7.4 million Australian dollars.

2d ago

Hong Kong ZD Group's case involving HK$1 billion “breaking new” capital was classified as a fraud by the Hong Kong Police

Comparative news, according to a Caixin report, a large number of mainland and Hong Kong investors participated in the Hong Kong IPO through ZD Group to “break new ground”, and the relevant funds were unable to be disbursed as scheduled. Hong Kong police said that as of August 17, the case had been treated as a “fraud” and followed up by the Wan Chai Police District Serious Crimes Unit. No one has been arrested yet. Earlier, several investors were told that bank accounts of ZD Group related entities had been frozen, making it impossible to redeem the funds. The scale involved reached the level of HK$1 billion, some of which were mainland cross-border investment funds in Hong Kong.

3d ago

An elderly person in his eighties in Hong Kong fell for a fake cryptocurrency app scam: losing over HK$5 million in a month and a half

Comparing news, Hong Kong police recently revealed a cryptocurrency investment scam targeting the elderly. In June of this year, a retired man in his 80s clicked on a fake link in an online pop-up ad and downloaded a fake AppTrust Wallet posing as a cryptocurrency platform. Afterwards, the scammers impersonated the platform's customer service to lure them to invest using high returns and big money as bait. The victim followed the instructions to withdraw money from the bank and exchanged the cash for cryptocurrency through a cryptocurrency exchange shop. Over the next month and a half, he transferred more than HK$5 million worth of ETH to the wallet designated by the scammer several times. It wasn't until the funds could not be withdrawn from the fake app and the customer service was disconnected that the scam was discovered. The Hong Kong Police warned that families should pay attention to the internet habits and financial situation of the elderly, take the initiative to share anti-fraud information, and be wary of investment scams carried out through fake apps and promises of high returns.

3d ago

China's Shanghai Court Analyzes Criminal Liability Findings in Electronic Fraud Cases Involving Virtual Currency Diversion: May Contain Complicity in Fraud Crimes or Crimes of Illegal Use of Information Networks

Comparing news, China's Shanghai Intermediate People's Court published a typical case law to analyze the examination and determination of whether drafters in virtual currency telecommunication network fraud cases constituted accomplices in fraud crimes. From February 2022 to April 2023, in order to obtain profits, the defendant used online virtual phone software to attract victims to join related fraud groups. In the end, 30 victims were defrauded of more than RMB 2.34 million by overseas fraud organizations (same currency). An overseas fraud organization transfers money to the suspect's trading account through virtual currency. The Shanghai No. 1 Intermediate People's Court pointed out that in telecommunication network fraud cases, according to specific circumstances, the culprit may be complicit in the crime of fraud or the crime of illegal use of information networks. The key is to determine whether they have formed clear criminal contacts with upstream criminal fraud gangs and whether there is a stable cooperative division of labor. In judicial practice, when judging the criminal liability of drafters, factors such as their role in the criminal chain, degree of organizational management, links with upstream offenders, profit methods, and abnormal behavior should be comprehensively considered. Acts that only provide general network services and do not form a conspiracy to commit fraud should be distinguished from acts that are aware of and participate in the execution of fraud.

4d ago