Google Ads Malware Used By Hackers To Steal Digital Assets

Key Points:

• NFT God claimed to have unintentionally downloaded malware discovered via a Google Ads search result, losing the amount of their net worth in nonfungible tokens and cryptocurrency.
• He claimed to have downloaded the open-source video streaming program OBS via Google’s search engine and clicked on the sponsored advertisement for what he believed to be the same thing rather than the official website.
• Blockchain data reveals that his wallet was robbed of at least 19 ETH.

Malware is now appearing more and more. Their purpose is to compromise user data and steal confidential information. Recently, a victim accidentally lost a large amount of money or “a life-changing amount” through a Google Ads search result.

On January 14, an NFT influencer maliciously claimed to have unintentionally downloaded malware discovered via a Google Ads search result, losing the amount of their net worth in nonfungible tokens and cryptocurrency.

The Twitter user going by the alias NFT God, issued a string of tweets detailing how his entire digital livelihood was violated, including his cryptocurrency wallet and numerous internet accounts.

NFT God claims to have downloaded the open-source video streaming program OBS via Google’s search engine. However, he chose to click on the sponsored advertisement for what he believed to be the same thing rather than the official website.

He didn’t know malware had also been downloaded from the sponsored advertisement along with the program he desired until hours later.

Over 24 hours, every communication line he has with his community, friends, and family has been compromised. His wallets, Gmail, Twitter, Substack, and Discord accounts were all broken into and commandeered by bad actors.

He swiftly deletes the hackers’ fake tweets. But a message was sent to him with the content:

“Dude you WETH’d your ape?”

He opens his ape’s Opensea bookmark, there is a listing for a completely different wallet than the owner, what a terrible thing he did not hope for.

NFT God thinks that setting up his hardware wallet as a hot wallet by entering its seed phrase in a way that does no keeps it cold or offline, which allowed the hackers to take control of his crypto and NFTs, was the crucial error that allowed the wallet breach.

Blockchain data reveals that his wallet was robbed of at least 19 ETH, which at the time was valued close to $27,000, a Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) NFT, whose current floor price is 16 ETH ($25,000), and numerous other NFTs.

Before moving the majority of the ETH to the decentralized exchange (DEX) FixedFloat, where it was exchanged for unidentified cryptocurrencies, the attacker moved it through several wallets.

As Coincu reported, cyber experiences from Imperva Red Team had discovered that Google Chrome and other Chromium-based web browsers are vulnerable to malicious vulnerabilities. This is just one of a number of serious Google errors that cause users to lose their personal data, which has led to online platforms and centralized exchanges that have recently seen crypto withdrawals from investors as a measure to protect their assets.

DISCLAIMER: The Information on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice. We encourage you to do your own research before investing.

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Harold

Coincu News