The FBI has released a statement that warns of hackers using fake rewards in play-to-earn Web3 games to hack players.
The report also contains a series of steps that users need to follow to prevent being scammed.
- The multi-stage hacking campaign works as follows:
- The
hackers introduce victims to an online game in which players are
promised they will earn cryptocurrency rewards in exchange for
completing specific actions.
- To participate in the games, the victims are told to buy cryptocurrency and create a crypto wallet.
- Once
the victims download the game, they have unknowingly downloaded malware
that enables the threat actor to have control over their wallet.
- The scammers then tell them that they can win more rewards the more cryptocurrency they transfer to their wallet.
- Hackers then steal the funds from the targets and promise to recover them in exchange for a fee.
- After the fee is paid, the hackers do not give back the wallet and do not reach out to the victims anymore.
- A record-breaking $3B was stolen through cryptocurrency scams in 2022.
