A crypto whale who lost $24 million worth of liquid Ethereum in a phishing scam last year is getting his money back.
Blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer reported that as of July 15, the attacker had returned more than $10 million of the stolen funds.
The refund
Data from the chain shows that the attacker began attempting to refund the stolen money on July 6, sending a message stating:
“I’m the man who took your money. I want to give the money back.”
Following the message, the attacker transferred approximately $9.3 million worth of DAI stablecoins to the victim in two transactions, according to Etherscan data. On July 15, the attacker returned another $1 million of the stolen money, bringing the total amount to $10.3 million at the time of writing.
The victim specifically confirmed receipt of these transfers, saying:
“Recognize that 10.3 million DAI has already been returned to this address. Thank you for returning the money. Please return the remainder to this address.”
On July 16, the attacker promised to pay back the balance but said they would like to talk to the victim privately. The victim subsequently set up a Telegram group, but at the time of writing it was unclear whether they had come to an agreement on the balance.
Meanwhile, this isn’t the first time hackers have stolen their loot and returned it after negotiating with their victims via blockchain messages. However, the reason for this specific refund is unclear as the attack occurred approximately ten months ago.
Phishing attacks remain a major pain point for crypto users, as malicious players tend to impersonate legitimate accounts on social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to defraud their victims.
Scam Sniffer reported that these attacks resulted in losses of approximately $341 million during the first six months of this year, more than the total $295 million stolen in 2023.
