Pink Drainer, the infamous crypto-hacking outfit, has been accused in a highly sophisticated phishing scheme that resulted in the theft of $4.4 million in Chainlink (LINK) tokens.
This recent cyber crime targeted a single victim who was duped into signing a transaction linked with the 'Increase Approval' feature.
Pink Drainer exploits 'Increase Approval' function
The 'Increase Approval' function is a regular method in the cryptocurrency world, allowing users to limit the number of tokens that can be transferred by another wallet. This activity facilitated the illegal transfer of 275,700 LINK tokens in two separate transactions without the victim's knowledge.
According to Scam Sniffer, a crypto-security website, the tokens were drained in two separate transfers. Initially, 68,925 LINK tokens were routed to a wallet identified by Etherscan as "PinkDrainer: Wallet 2." The remaining 206,775 LINK were sent to a separate address that ended as "E70e."
ZachXBT, a well-known crypto detective, also revealed that the stolen funds were soon transferred into Ethereum (ETH) and laundered through the eXch service, complicating asset tracking.
Scam Sniffer's investigation verifies the Pink Drainer group's involvement in this theft, although the specific technique employed to trick the victim into allowing the token transfer is unclear.
Scam Sniffer has also discovered at least ten additional scam sites linked to Pink Drainer in the previous 24 hours.
The Pink Drainer syndicate has been linked to incidents involving Evomos, Pika Protocol, and Orbiter Finance. It is also known for high-profile attacks on platforms such as Twitter and Discord.
They were also accused earlier this year in a fraud posing as crypto journalists, which resulted in the theft of nearly $3 million from over 1,932 victims.
According to Dune Analytics' most recent statistics, Pink Drainer's operations have intensified. As of December 19, the total losses suffered by the group amounted to $18.7 million, impacting 9,068 victims.