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Web3 Crypto Scams Wipe Out Nearly $150M in a Single Week of June

2 mins
Updated by Kyle Baird
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In Brief

  • Web3 crypto scams resulted in almost $150 million lost in a single week in June, impacting four projects.
  • The first half of 2023 saw $656 million stolen from the web3 space, with only $215 million recovered.
  • A rising trend in the crypto market is AI-related scams, with fake CEOs created using AI to deceive investors.
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The crypto market saw nearly $150 million stolen in the last week of June. Hacks and web3 crypto scams were responsible for the losses.

The data comes from SlowMist’s weekly security report, which detailed the specific projects that suffered from June’s scams.

$150 Million Lost in a Single Week

June was a tough month for the market, with four projects suffering from hacks, scams, and rug pulls. These took place in the last week of June, and the four projects were Shido, Ichioka Ventures, an unnamed company that claimed to identify dogs by their nose wrinkles, Chibi Finance, and Biswap.

They respectively saw $238,500, $21 million, $127 million, $1 million, and $50,000 stolen or lost.

Rug pulls are one of the most common crypto scams. Check out our in-depth analysis on this type of fraudulent activity to learn more: What Is a Rug Pull? A Guide to the Web3 Scam

The blockchain for dog nose wrinkles company was responsible for most of that loss, with the Ponzi scheme siphoning $127 million from users. The Ichioka Ventures project was also a scam. The rest were hacks.

Another project that was hacked a few days ago was Themis, which lost $370,000. Manta Network saw its Twitter account hijacked, but there were no losses. There could very well be more unreported incidents in the market.

Web3 Crypto Scams and Hacks Theft Amounts to $656M

June’s incidents continue the miserable run the crypto market has had when it comes to security incidents. The first half of the year has seen a massive $656 million stolen from the web3 space.

About $215 million of the stolen assets have been recovered. This is an improvement from 2022, when only 8% of assets of all stolen funds were recovered.

H1 2023 Web3 Security Statistics that shows web3 crypto scams and rug pulls.  Source: Beosin
H1 2023 Web3 Crypto Scams Statistics. Source: Beosin

Phishing attacks and rug pulls are among the most common incidents. This is a trend that continues since 2022, which saw many suffer from these types of attacks.

The reports also reveal that scams and hacks continue to take place in the market, and even the appearance of some new trends.

One vector that cannot be ignored is AI-related crypto scams. These scammers are trying to leverage the general interest in AI to create and popularize their scams. Impersonation scams are also common.

Among the tactics used in these web3 crypto scams is the creation of fake CEOs using AI. It has reached the point where even governments are advising individuals to be wary.

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has also described crypto scams as dangerous to older investors.

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Rahul Nambiampurath
Rahul Nambiampurath's cryptocurrency journey first began in 2014 when he stumbled upon Satoshi's Bitcoin whitepaper. With a bachelor's degree in Commerce and an MBA in Finance from Sikkim Manipal University, he was among the few that first recognized the sheer untapped potential of decentralized technologies. Since then, he has helped DeFi platforms like Balancer and Sidus Heroes — a web3 metaverse — as well as CEXs like Bitso (Mexico's biggest) and Overbit to reach new heights with his...
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