Key Points
- Scammers have stolen $2 million in cryptocurrency from an OKX customer using stolen identity information.
- OKX is assisting the victim in recovering the account and has taken legal action against the attackers.
Scammers have reportedly pilfered cryptocurrency assets worth $2 million from a client of the cryptocurrency exchange OKX.
The identity information of the victim, Lai Japanese Fang Chang, was allegedly “bought” by the culprits. This data was said to have been leaked in a data breach on Telegram.
Identity Theft and Account Takeover
Using the obtained sensitive data, the fraudsters were able to gain access to Chang’s OKX account. They managed to take control of the account by using the “forgotten password” feature.
The scammers then impersonated Chang, changing all his security settings. They even utilized a deepfake video of the victim to change his email ID, phone number, and Google authenticator settings.
Within a day of the user being notified of the change, his account was drained of over $2 million in various cryptocurrencies.
OKX’s Response and Previous Attacks
OKX has confirmed that the user’s account was compromised and is currently aiding the victim in regaining access to his account. The company has also reportedly initiated legal proceedings against the perpetrators.
This incident comes after a previous attack on an OKX wallet, where the victim lost 50,000 Trc-20 USDT. Prior to these attacks, there was a $430,000 exploit on OKX Dex. The private key of the OKX DEX proxy admin owner was allegedly exposed, allowing hackers to modify the protocol with harmful functions and steal funds from users who had authorized the protocol to interact with their wallets.
Cryptocurrency exchanges have been a frequent target for hackers. Just last week, the Japanese crypto exchange DMM Bitcoin was hacked for $305 million, and before that, the Estonia-based crypto exchange CoinsPaid was hacked for over $7 million.
With the advent of AI-powered tools, hackers have a potent weapon at their disposal. Deepfake videos are being used to deceive market participants, leading to industry-wide concerns about the ethical use of AI.
