As a result of various fraudulent schemes, Ethereum cryptocurrency owners lost $ 36 million in dollar terms in 2018. This is twice as much as in 2017, when users have been stolen $ 17 million, according to a study by analytical company Chainalysis.
In 2018, Ethereum-based scams raked in $ 36 million, doubling the past of the year. Get a preview of our Crypto Crime series. #cryptocurrency #cryptocrime https://t.co/So2FCJgv99
– Chainalysis (@chainalysis) January 23, 2019
At the same time, the company notes, the number of fraudulent schemes gradually decreased during 2018, however, those that continued to operate had even larger scales, and the methods of weaning funds from users became more and more sophisticated.
“For a number of reasons, which will be named in our full report [at the end of January], the broadcast has long been known as the most preferred cryptocurrency for scammers, ” says Chainalysis.
According to analysts, from the end of 2016 to the end of 2018, they identified over 2,000 scam addresses in the Ethereum network, which received funds from almost 40,000 unique users. At the same time, it was in 2018 that there was a surge in activity of fraudsters in the Ethereum network – almost 75%.
Phishing is the king of scams
As Chainalysis notes, the most profitable fraudulent method throughout 2017 and 2018 remained phishing. However, if in 2017 its share accounted for more than 88% of all fraudulent schemes, then in 2018 this method became less effective, and its success rate dropped to 38.7%.
Other most popular methods of weaning coins from users were the disappearance of ICO organizers (31.5%) and Ponzi-schemes (pyramid schemes) – 15%. The organizers of these schemes have raised millions of dollars on the air. Also, approximately 15% is accounted for by the clean scams, but at this stage the company does not explain what kind of activity lies behind these figures.
Earlier, Chainalysis, as a spoiler for its upcoming report, reported that the volume of bitcoin transactions in the darknet in 2018 exceeded $ 600 million.
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