Hold onto your crypto hats, folks, because the infamous “Blockchain Bandit” has made a grand reappearance! This cunning character has just pulled a digital heist, moving a jaw-dropping $172 million in Ethereum (ETH) from 10 sleepy wallets that haven’t seen action since 2018. Talk about a dramatic comeback!
On December 30, the Bandit bundled up 51,000 ETH into a single, super-secure multisig wallet. This sneaky shuffle was uncovered by none other than blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, who found that these wallets had been in hibernation for nearly two years. But wait, there's more! Alongside the ETH, a hefty 470 Bitcoin (BTC) also made a quiet exit.
Now, if you're wondering how this rascal got their hands on all that loot, let’s rewind to the Bandit’s glory days of 2016 to 2018. Back then, the Bandit was up to no good with a crafty trick called “Ethercombing.” By cracking the code on weak private keys, thanks to shoddy random number generators or misconfigured wallets, this cyber crook managed to swipe over 45,000 ETH in a whopping 49,060 transactions. Who knew key guessing could be so lucrative?
Rumor has it that this heist might have some heavyweight backing. Cybersecurity wizards speculate that state-sponsored outfits, perhaps some notorious North Korean hacker gangs, are pulling the strings. These groups have a knack for targeting crypto platforms to bankroll their shadowy schemes, including some headline-grabbing weapons programs.
The Bandit’s slick move to multisig wallets suggests they're prepping for the next act—possibly laundering the stash through crypto mixers or decentralized exchanges to erase any digital fingerprints.
This latest escapade is a reminder that crypto crime is on the rise, with fraudsters constantly cooking up new tricks to fool the unsuspecting. Just recently, hackers were caught using fake Zoom links to swipe crypto credentials and assets. Malware traced back to some Russian-linked operatives was found to have transformed over $1 million to ETH.
In another twist, scammers baited would-be thieves with fake crypto wallet seed phrases. When accessed, these wallets demand TRX for fees, only to funnel the funds to the scammers. It's a classic case of greed turning the tables, as Kaspersky warns, where the hunter becomes the hunted in this crypto cat-and-mouse game.
So, keep your digital treasures under lock and key, because in the wild world of crypto, you never know when the next heist might happen!
