Two High-Level Hacks! This Cryptocurrency Exchange Has Stopped Trading!

A hacking group called Pink Drainer struck again. This time, he stole $4.4 million from just 1 victim. The notorious crypto hacking group has had more than 9,000 victims this year. They stole over $18 million from the victims. Elsewhere, Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Catalyx halted all transactions following a security breach.

Notorious hacker group stole 275,700 LINK!

As you can see from Kriptokoin.com, hacking incidents have become almost commonplace in the crypto world. The cryptocurrency hacking group known as "Pink Drainer" is among the pioneers of these attacks. Pink Drainer has now tricked a victim into signing the "Increase Approval" function. Thus, he managed to steal a massive chunk of Chainlink (LINK) worth $4.4 million from a single victim. According to on-chain data, the victim said goodbye to a total of 275,700 LINK (currently worth $4.33 million) in two transactions within a minute of signing the "Increase Approval" transaction.

another victim lost $4.4 million worth of LINK to phishing scams about 2 hours ago. pic.twitter.com/6zSWTp8G6d

— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) December 29, 2023

The hackers transferred approximately 68,925 LINK to a wallet labeled "PinkDrainer" on Etherscan. They also sent 206,775 LINK to an address ending in "E70e". Cryptocurrency security firm Scam Sniffer has confirmed that the latest theft is related to Pink Drainer. However, it remains unclear how the victim interacted with the phishing website, he said. Scam Sniffer stated that it has detected at least 10 Pink Drainer scam sites in the last 24 hours. "This is a typical attack where the victim has a lot of power," the firm added.

List of Pink Drainer scam websites. Source: Scam SnifferBlockchain researcher ZachXBT revealed that the stolen funds have since been sold for Ethereum. He also stated that he is currently being laundered through the "instant cryptocurrency exchange" eXch.

Canadian cryptocurrency exchange Catalyx halts all transactions

Calgary-based CataX CTS Ltd., which operates cryptocurrency trading platform Catalyx, revealed on Thursday that the exchange was recently affected by a security breach. That's why he announced that the exchange was suspending trading and withdrawals. The suspension follows a cease-and-desist order issued by the Alberta Securities Commission on Dec. 21 against the company and co-founder Jae Ho Lee.

The security breach also led to the loss of some of Catalyx's customers' cryptocurrencies. The company then launched an investigation on suspicion that an employee was involved in the incident. Meanwhile, CataX has not disclosed the exact amount of losses. CataX said global financial audit firm Deloitte LLP will "provide forensic and investigative services to the company" in investigating the incident. The company said in a statement that it plans to update its users after Deloitte completes the investigation.

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