Crypto Scammers Make Up to $50,000 a Day by Impersonating Experts
Researchers have discovered several fake accounts on the social network X (formerly Twitter), where operators pose as cryptocurrency scam investigators and representatives of blockchain security companies. To attract potential victims, scammers post messages about alleged hacks of major cryptocurrency platforms, urging users to act quickly to protect their digital assets from possible theft. They claim that users must urgently follow a link to a malicious website (such as revoketokens[.]io or revokea[.]sh) and revoke permissions by connecting their wallet to the site. Once this happens, the attackers steal the user’s funds.
How the Scam Works
The scammers impersonate well-known specialists and companies such as CertiK, ZachXBT, and Scam Sniffer, using fake reports of hacks involving platforms like Uniswap and Opensea. To mimic legitimate accounts, hackers create new profiles with similar names. For example, the well-known blockchain analyst ZachXBT uses the handle @zachxbt, while scammers created @zacheryxbt to deceive users.
Fake Hack Alerts Spread Widely
According to Bleeping Computer, many X users—including some with hundreds of thousands of followers—fell for the scam and helped spread information about the fake hacks and scam accounts. For instance, researchers from VX-Underground mistakenly believed a report about an Opensea hack came from a trustworthy account. In a later post, VX-Underground explained how they were tricked by the scammers.
Large-Scale Campaigns and Trending Hashtags
The scale of the campaign is notable: bot accounts promoted hashtags like #UniswapExploit so aggressively that they became top trending topics in the United States. Researcher ZachXBT, whose account was impersonated, told journalists he first noticed this tactic on November 9. That same day, Hayden Adams, founder of the decentralized exchange Uniswap, warned the crypto community about the scam, clarifying that there were no real exploits affecting Uniswap and that such messages were coming from fake X accounts impersonating ZachXBT, CertiK, and other well-known figures in the crypto space.
Stolen Funds and Wallet Addresses
According to the real ZachXBT, scammers have already stolen over $305,000 in cryptocurrency using this method. The stolen assets are being held at the following addresses: 0x85a5b2968fae4e7f60f14e3bfc2ebda67050740f and 0xe91fa37c3c5cf801cc8c6cd25a4d2399b3fba4e8.