December Ranks Fifth Highest Month in Crypto Scams With Over $100 Million Drained

Blockchain security firm CertiK says that over $116 million was lost in December to crypto scams with exploits, exits scams and flash loan attacks recording the highest figures.

The firm posted the industry hack data for 2023 on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting several incidents that shaped the year, including figures of hacks per month and popular methods deployed by bad actors.

#CertiKStatsAlert 🚨

We have updated our EOM December stats to reflect the Orbit Chain incident.

December saw a total of $116.5M lost

See more details below pic.twitter.com/I2XS4RtdvL

— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) January 1, 2024

According to the data, December ranks fifth in terms of the highest monthly drain in the industry with over $116 million. The Orbit Chain incident that saw $81 million drained was the highest in December followed by the user who lost $4.4 million to a phishing scam.

September and November remain the top for crypto scams

The month also witnessed five major flash loan crypto scams with BearnDAO and GoodDollar as both firms posted $769,000 and $624,000 respectively. Other loan incidents include Peapod Finance, Paraluni, and Elephant.money.

September, November, and July recorded the highest number of exploits bringing the yearly figure to $1.8 billion as authorities continue pushing for tighter regulations in the sector.

On-chain data shows that November and September posted $700 million in losses ranging from the Mixin Network incident to the unfortunate events revolving around Poloniex, HTX, and HECO bridge.

The three events occurred to companies related to Justin Sun, raising scrutiny from the wider community although the company’s pledged that all lost user assets would be recovered.

Despite the Orbit Chain incident recorded last December, last year witnessed a significant drop in Web3 scams and hacks than in 2022, the year notorious for ushering in the crypto winter.

Hack-related losses plummet across 12 months

According to blockchain security firm Beosin, losses were reduced from $4.38 billion in 2022 to $2 billion in 2023, with several analysts pointing to wider community engagement and regulatory activities as key reasons for the development.

In 2023, total losses from hacks, phishing scams, and rug pulls in Web3 reached $2.02 billion.

From 2022 to 2023🔽
Total: $4.38B -> $2.02B, -53.87%
Hacks: $3.6B -> $1.39B, -61.24%
Rug Pulls: $425M -> $388M, -8.7%
Phishing: $356M -> $238M, -33.17%

Check Beosin's report🔽 https://t.co/W7GqRdoG1H pic.twitter.com/LU7DXETtm5

— Beosin Alert (@BeosinAlert) January 2, 2024

“In 2023, Web3 witnessed staggering total losses of $2.02 billion, with $1.397 billion from 191 major attacks, $388 million from 267 rug pulls, and $238 million from phishing scams. Notably, 68% of the 191 attacks targeted #DeFi projects, resulting in the highest losses of $408 million, constituting 29.2% of the total.” 

Last year also recorded more diversified crypto scam activity incorporating popular Web2 models like the man in the middle and supply chain compromises. The report also shows the movement of funds, noting that most funds remained in hacker addresses before laundering methods were deployed.

“Notably, 51.8% of the total stolen funds, approximately $723 million, remained in hacker addresses. Hackers adopted intricate money laundering methods, utilizing cross-chain transfers and dispersing funds across multiple addresses, posing challenges for investigations by both project teams and regulators.”

Similarly, PeckShield reported $99.3 million stolen from hackers throughout December with Orbit Brice being the largest and the ninth major hack to a cross-chain bridge in three years.