According to the reports of the Hong Kong police, there is an important development regarding Binance accounts. The developments are related to fraudulent activities. Accordingly, a striking situation emerged in the recent wave of phishing attacks. Fraudsters stole a staggering $446,835 from 11 Binance accounts in the past two weeks. Perpetrators persuade wallet holders to click on links for supposed identity verification. To do this, they implement a cunning plan by sending phishing text messages.
Phishing hit Binance users
Binance users in Hong Kong have fallen victim to a series of phishing attacks. Accordingly, it suffered a total loss of HK$3.5 million (approximately $446,835). The attackers skillfully sent text messages that appeared to originate from Binance itself to unsuspecting victims. These messages urge account holders to click on the provided links to verify their identity. It also warns that if they do not comply, their accounts will be disabled. Tragically, those who interact with the links are unknowingly surrendering credentials, including passwords. Thus, they allow fraudsters to siphon crypto assets from their accounts.
Hong Kong police issued a stern warning about the attack on Binance accounts via the CyberDefender Facebook page. So he responded quickly to these events. They emphasized that there is a critical need to be vigilant against such threats. To increase security, users are strongly advised to opt for licensed cryptocurrency exchange platforms operating in Hong Kong. Notably, since the new Securities and Futures Commission crypto asset regulations came into force on June 1, only two crypto trading platforms, OSL Digital Securities Limited and Hash Blockchain Limited, have been licensed to serve Hong Kong retail clients.
Increasing security measures
Authorities are taking steps to strengthen defenses against potential hacking attacks, such as in the case of Binance. Accordingly, they recommend the use of offline cold wallets such as external storage devices, especially when dealing with important crypto assets. Police are also encouraging the public to utilize the Scameter search engine on the CyberDefender website. This tool helps identify suspicious web addresses, emails, platform usernames, bank accounts, mobile numbers and IP addresses. This allows users to effectively detect fraud.
As Kriptokoin.com, as a worrying situation, Hong Kong police announces interesting data. Accordingly, they state that they have handled approximately 20,000 fraud cases in the first half of 2023. On the other hand, they indicate an increase of 52% compared to the same period in 2022. The total value of losses in 2023 reaches HK$2.69 billion (about $345.5 million). It marks a 28% increase compared to the HK$2.1 billion ($268.17 million) reported in 2022. In addition to the attack on Binance accounts, it is noteworthy that the number is so large.
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