The notorious crypto hacking group, “Pink Drainer,” has been implicated in a massive theft of Chainlink (LINK) tokens, amounting to a staggering $4.4 million. The victim, who remains anonymous, was duped into signing an “Increase Approval” function, leading to the loss of their digital assets.
Approximately 68,925 LINK tokens were transferred to a wallet labeled “PinkDrainer: Wallet 2” on Etherscan, while an additional 206,775 LINK tokens were sent to an address ending in “E70e.”
According to Lookonchain, it was confirmed the theft was connected to Pink Drainer. However, the specifics of how the victim interacted with the phishing website remain unclear. Scam Sniffer has identified at least ten scam sites linked to Pink Drainer in the past 24 hours alone.
What an unlucky guy!
He got 275,700 $LINK($4.42M) stolen by a phishing attack.
This guy accumulated 290,750 $LINK($2.26M) at $7.8 from exchanges between Jun 7, 2022, and Oct 14, 2023, a profit of nearly ~$2.4M currently.
Unfortunately, he accidentally clicked on the phishing… pic.twitter.com/2FqM72T3f7
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) December 29, 2023
“This is a typical attack where the victim happens to have a lot of assets,” commented a representative from Scam Sniffer.
The Funds Stolen By Pink Drainer Are Already Being Laundered
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT noted that the stolen funds have since been converted into Ether (ETH) and are currently being laundered through an “instant cryptocurrency exchange” known as eXch. Pink Drainer has been associated with several high-profile Discord and Twitter hacks over the past year, including those involving Evomos, Pika Protocol, OpenAI CTO Mira Murati, and Orbiter Finance.
The group has also impersonated crypto journalists in a series of scams. In June, Scam Sniffer reported that Pink Drainer had stolen approximately $3 million from over 1,932 victims. As of December 19, the total stolen amount has escalated to $18.7 million, affecting 9,068 victims, according to data from Dune Analytics.
In light of the increasing activities of the Pink Drainer hacking group, law enforcement, and cybersecurity companies are ramping up their efforts to locate and neutralize this threat. The group’s evolving strategies and the growing financial damage they cause highlight the ongoing risk that cybercriminals represent in the world of digital currency.
It is strongly recommended that investors and users be extremely vigilant and implement stringent security protocols to protect their digital assets against these escalating cyber threats.
