The post Ethereum’s Zak targeted by a sophisticated ‘podcast software’ scam appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Ethereum core developer Zak Cole was recently targeted in a phishing scheme, where the attacker disguised a link as an invitation to appear on a podcast. According to Zak, the attempt relied on fake domains and a malicious installer to steal crypto credentials and data from his computer.  Cole wrote a 21-post X thread late Monday, starting with how the scam began with a direct message on X inviting him to “Join our podcast!” 2/21 It all started with a Twitter DM to “Join our podcast!” The attacker (@0xMauriceWang) posed as someone from @theempirepod. Looked legit after a brief skim so I agreed. Then came an email from [email protected] with a @StreamYard link. Text said… pic.twitter.com/fEvazOVFs5 — zak.eth (@0xzak) September 15, 2025 The sender, using the handle @0xMauriceWang on the social platform, posed as a representative of Blockwork’s Empire podcast and followed up with an email from what Zak said looked like “a legitimate podcast domain.” Phisher tried to ‘help’ Zak install malicious app According to the Ether core dev, the email included a link displayed as streamyard.com but was actually hyperlinked to streamyard.org. When Cole clicked, the page returned an “error joining” message and instructed him to download a desktop application to continue.
Scammer text to Zak Cole. Source: Zak.eth X account
In the screenshots Cole shared on his X thread, he declined making the installation at first because of his company’s security policies, but the attacker begged him to add it “just this once,” even sending a video tutorial to demonstrate how to install the supposed app.  “Mate, it’s StreamYard, they have over 3 mil users. I have a corp laptop too, but it’s all good. The browser version barely works, maybe 1 out of 20 attempts actually connects. I’m pretty sure they keep it around…

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Filed under: News - @ September 16, 2025 4:34 pm