The post Phantom Wallet Users at Risk as Scammers Deploy Fake Pop-Ups appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

The pop-ups trick users into revealing their seed phrases and losing access to their funds. Despite these security threats, Phantom’s popularity continues to rise due to increased Solana meme coin activity. Meanwhile, ransomware payments dropped by 35% in 2024 thanks to improved law enforcement and victim resistance. In a separate case, Payza founder Firoz Patel received an additional 41-month prison sentence for trying to conceal 450 BTC after his conviction for money laundering. Phishing Scammers Target Phantom Wallet Users Phishing scammers have been actively targeting users of the Solana-based Phantom wallet by trying to steal private keys through deceptive pop-ups that mimic legitimate update requests. The Web3 scam detection platform Scam Sniffer recently alerted users on X about this scam. It involves fraudsters connecting to real Phantom wallets and tricking users into approving a fake “update extension” signature request. Once approved, victims are then prompted to input their seed phrase, which, if entered, grants scammers full access to the wallet and allows them to drain funds. Scam Sniffer previously warned Phantom users about similar phishing tactics in late January, where pop-ups on malicious websites imitated the Phantom interface to deceive users into entering their wallet seed phrase under the guise of a fake connection request. To help users identify these fraudulent pop-ups, Scam Sniffer recommended right-clicking links to check their authenticity, as phishing pages typically block this action and real Phantom wallet windows do not.  Another key indicator is the URL, as genuine Phantom pop-ups display “chrome-extension” as part of the link, something scam websites cannot replicate. Additionally, Phantom’s legitimate pop-ups function like system windows that allow users to minimize, maximize, and resize them, while fake ones stay confined within the browser tab. Despite these security threats, Phantom’s usage continued to grow. This growth is driven by the increasing popularity…

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Filed under: News - @ February 7, 2025 8:18 am