Friendtech app got the limelight with the Social-Fi narrative and has been used by more than 100,000 users since then. It paved the way for more content creators and influencers to be profitable in a situation where their followers buy their shares. In a nutshell, your network is your net worth.
Friendtech became the recent target for cybercrime as over $385k was stolen from users. It was reported that the hacker managed to get away with funds from about four Friendtech users, resulting in a total of 234 Ethereum (ETH) which is equivalent to $385,000.
How did it happen?
"ZachXBT," on the X app, a rug pull survivor managed to get to the root of how the hacker carried out the operation. He found out that the hacker was able to get this done without much trace due to the method he used.
The hacker used a series of SIM-swapping attacks by targeting users of friend.tech crypto. By tricking the mobile carrier into transferring the victim’s phone number to a new SIM card to gain control. Once that has been done successfully, the hacker goes ahead to reset the passwords to the victim’s online accounts, including their crypto exchanges and any other platform that funds can be taken from.
The same scammer profited $385K (234 ETH) in the past 24 hours off SIM swapping four different FriendTech users. pic.twitter.com/03BoBEqGax
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) October 4, 2023
However, leveraging on the information obtained from the victim's public X accounts was done easily. As most scams end up, the scammer already diverted all the funds into two exchange addresses. It is possible that the plan is to withdraw the funds as fiat currencies.
What are SIM swap attacks?
A SIM Swap attack occurs when a hacker takes control of an individual's mobile phone by tricking service providers to connect that phone number to a SIM card in his possession. He can then use that medium to carry out a lot of fraudulent activity.
Friend.tech crypto comes with a platform that links the users’ X profiles. It is a risk. It would make it easy for hackers to carry out their operations within a short time. This is because, at any point in time, their data can be used against them.
It is likely that another attack might occur, but to prevent being the prey of these attacks, friend.tech now avails the option of using your email instead of your phone number to log in to the platform.
Another effective security measure that has gained popularity is Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). Users are required to provide two methods of identification, typically a password and a PIN code. This makes it more difficult for hackers to access a user's accounts and details because they would need both pieces of information to log in.
As Social-Fi trends are currently the hype, you need to be careful while interacting with these platforms so you don't end up losing your funds in a couple of minutes. It's better to be safe than to be sorry.