According to Beosin the amount of funds lost in crypto “rug pulls” was almost double that of Defi exploits in May 2023. Rug pulls are a type of scam where the founders take off with the investor’s money. According to Beosin’s data, rug pulls and scams amounted to $45 million lost across six different incidents.
💔Rug Pull Outpaces Attacks: The total amount involved in #rugpull reached $45.02 million, surpassing losses from attacks
2/5
— Beosin 🛡 Blockchain Security (@Beosin_com) June 1, 2023
On the other hand, there were 10 incidents of Defi exploits, with $19.7 million lost. However, Defi exploit volume is down by almost 80% since April. The report also noted that over the previous two months, losses resulting from Defi exploits have significantly decreased.
According to Beosin, the biggest rug pull was that involving the $32 million allegedly stolen by the crypto startup Fintoch. The biggest Defi attack last month, according to Beosin, was the $7.5 million against Jimbo’s protocol.
How can firms and investors protect themselves from crypto scams?
Beosin noted that hackers are “shifting the target of their attacks from various project parties to ordinary users.” Therefore, the firm asked users to raise their anti-fraud awareness and undertake due diligence on a project before investing.
Beosin also issued a warning against using shared or public charging stations for mobile phones. These stations might be altered to introduce harmful software, which can steal private codes. A similar caution about avoiding the use of free charging stations was issued by the U.S. FBI in April. Instead, it suggested bringing a USB cord and charger to plug into a wall socket.
The 80% drop in Defi exploits is welcome. However, there is still a lot of work to be done to protect investors and users from bad actors. Nonetheless, hacks have been dropping gradually with the passing of time. This could be attributed to better and more regular audits, better security features, and more awareness than before. In Q1 2023, hacks fell by almost 70%.
