Notorious Crypto Scammer Monkey Drainer Says They’re ‘Shutting Down’
The cryptocurrency phishing scam behind some of the most high-profile and high-profile Web3 thefts claims to have packed up shop and is “moving on to something better.”
The scammer under the pseudonym Monkey Drainer posted on their Telegram channel on March 1 that they “will shut down immediately” and that all “files, servers and devices” related to the drainer “will be destroyed immediately” and it “will not return”. “
The fraudster even gave advice to budding “young cybercriminals”, saying they should not “get lost in the pursuit of easy money” and that only those “with the highest level of dedication” should run a “large-scale cybercrime” outfit.
Monkey Drainer even recommended a “flawless” alternative service to the one they once offered called “Venom Drainer” and pointed to a Telegram account for the service that was created just a day before Monkey’s announcement.
Blockchain security firm PeckShield tweeted on March 1 that Monkey Drainer’s wallet deposited around 200 Ether (ETH) worth $330,000 into crypto-mingling service Tornado Cash, in an attempt to hide their money. 840 ETH worth $1.4 million was still in their primary wallet.
#PeckShieldAlert Scammers #MonkeyDrainerwho run multi-client theft schemes (a kind of “scam-as-a-service”) announced to shut down their service
~200 $ETH have been transferred to Tornado Cash in the last 24 hours, while ~840 $ETH (~$1.4 million) sitting in their main address pic.twitter.com/1lg3KLRxhk— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) 1 March 2023
Blockchain security firm CertiK also shared Monkey’s message in a March 1 tweet, saying that the crypto wallet drain kit they offered takes a 30% “commission” of funds stolen from other people’s use of the software.
Wallet drain kits from other vendors have copied the model, and CertiK pointed to other vendors already reporting an increase in inquiries since Monkey Drainer announced its closure.
3/ Wallet drainer providers have taken note of the payment structure Monkey introduced and have since copied
Below are some examples we’ve seen: pic.twitter.com/i62aU5t2pv
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) 28 February 2023
Monkey Drainer has reportedly been operating since late 2022 and is estimated to have stolen up to $13 million worth of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) since then.
Related: Monkey Drainer-affiliated scammers possibly exposed after an on-chain dispute
Other copycat phishing scams and wallet emptying kits have stolen much more. A report by Web3 bug bounty platform Immunefi revealed $3.9 billion worth of crypto was lost to hacks, scams, scams and carpetbaggers in 2022.
Possibly one of the most high-profile and valuable thefts by a wallet tapper in recent times was the attack in January on Kevin Rose, the co-founder of Moonbird’s NFT collection.
Rose’s wallet was tapped after he approved a malicious signature on a phishing website that transferred over $1.1 million of his personal NFTs to the attacker.
