Two Fantom Foundation wallets on Ethereum and the Fantom Network have fallen victim to a phishing attack, losing over $650,000, according to reports from CertiK, a blockchain security firm. Another report by “Spreakaway” on X alleges that one of Fantom’s team members also lost $3.4 million.
Fantom Foundation Falls Victim To Phishing Attack
Fantom Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the growth and development of the Fantom ecosystem. On the other hand, Fantom is a scalable, layer-1 blockchain that is compatible with Ethereum. Like the world’s most valuable network, the platform supports the deployment of smart contracts. For clarity, Fantom’s network was not hacked; the foundation’s wallets were compromised.
According to CertiK, the Fantom Foundation lost $470,000 on Fantom and at least $187,000 on Ethereum. Following the attack, Etherscan data show that the scammers consolidated funds into one account, holding at least $7 million of various coins. The address has already been marked and identified as a facilitator of multiple phishing campaigns impacting crypto and decentralized finance (DeFi) projects.
Reports on Reddit show that Fantom Foundation fell victim to a “zero day” exploit on Chrome, a web browser, resulting in the loss of hundreds of thousands worth of FTM. In a screenshot of a Telegram conversation said to have been shared by a Fantom admin, the foundation acknowledged that “some” of their wallets were “drained.” They are actively tracking the movement of stolen funds.
Zero Day Exploit, FTM Sinks Even Lower
A zero-day exploit is a vulnerability unknown to the developer or its tech team, who might be able to fix it. Because the flaw isn’t known to the team, the threat actor can exploit it until it is patched. This is why zero-day exploits can be consequential, especially for DeFi protocols whose infrastructure relies on flawed software.
In the same screenshot shared on Reddit, a representative of Fantom Foundation said they didn’t update their browser to the latest version. The latest Chrome browser update, version 118.0.5993.70, was released on October 11.
Following this news, FTM fell roughly 5% and is now rocking close to multi-month lows. If bears press on, the coin may drop below 2022 lows.
As such, it will reverse all gains made in the first half of 2023. At this year’s peaks, FTM prices rose to as high as $0.65 in February 2023 before contracting to spot rates. The coin is trading at approximately $0.17 and under intense selling pressure.
Feature image from Canva, chart from TradingView
