Fraudsters thought that they could capitalize on Black Friday madness by deploying a phishing attack on clients of Uphold, a U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange.
Ah, Black Friday. That unofficial holiday where you get to, hopefully, save some major money before the holidays but still get that new gadget you’ve had your eye on for months. In this time of belt-tightening, almost everyone loves a good bargain.
Some people may even feel the same about Bitcoin’s current downtrend and are hoping to purchase some of the crypto while it’s currently trading at just over $4,300. While they’re in the buying mood, they may be tempted by a too-good-to-be-true discount. Well, that could be the thinking of these phishing fraudsters.
Phishing for Discounts
According to The Next Web, the U.S.-based Uphold cryptocurrency exchange is the latest platform facing a scam attack. Fraudsters gained control of the exchange’s email address and proceeded to contact their clients to share an exciting new offer. The email was sent out on the 21st of November and said:
The surprise is out! For the upcoming days until Black Friday, we are launching our Bitcoin Bucket Discount! Get 15% back on your Bitcoin holdings with Uphold.
Unconvinced? Don’t worry, the fraudsters have graciously provided an example of just how lucrative this deal could be, adding:
Mike sends 1 BTC to the Bucket Wallet and receives 1.15 BTC back on Black Friday. Thank you for supporting Uphold since day one!
Uphold Responds to Breach
Once aware of the security breach, Uphold sent an email to their customers advising that “THIS IS A PHISHING ATTEMPT. Do not send funds to the address given. Do not click on the link.” They also tweeted about the incident.
IMPORTANT SECURITY UPDATE: You may have received an email titled, 'Black Friday 15% discount on BTC!. THIS EMAIL WAS NOT SENT FROM UPHOLD. Do not send funds to the address given. Do not click on the link. We are investigating.
Please like and retweet this post to spread the word
— Uphold (@UpholdInc) November 21, 2018
Luckily, it seems as if the recent spate of crypto scams have, thankfully, opened up people’s eyes as only about $2,200 worth of bitcoins were sent to the fraudster’s address in the four hours it took for Uphold to warn their clients. However, the exchange’s customers are rightly concerned that the platform, and not just its email account, had suffered a hack. Uphold responded to this by tweeting:
Uphold has NOT been hacked. Uphold’s mail service account may have been compromised. We are investigating, and suspending BTC withdrawals until we have been able to communicate with all members that would have received phishing email.
The platform added that they “are investigating the incident. The Uphold platform and member funds remain completely secure and unaffected.”
Live Bitcoin News has previously reported on Twitter scams in the crypto industry, with one of the major victims being U.S. retail giant Target. While a different medium was used, the Target fraudsters also promised high returns on Bitcoin contributions.
Have you been affected by this phishing scam? Let us know in the comments below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock and Twitter.com/@UpholdInc.