MakerDAO delegate loses $11m in major phishing scam

A MakerDAO governance delegate has reportedly lost $11 million in aEthMKR and Pendle USDe tokens after falling victim to a phishing scam. 

According to Scam Sniffer, a web3 anti-scam solution, the incident occurred several hours ago when the user inadvertently signed multiple fraudulent Permit network signatures. The victim’s wallet, identified as 0xfb…accfa, was compromised by the scammer at address 0x73…bb96.

Scam Sniffer, which provides solutions to avoid phishing sites and wallet drainers, quickly detected the breach. The platform reported the incident on X, revealing that the victim was deceived into signing multiple permit phishing signatures. 

Crypto reporter Colin Wu subsequently stated that Arkham had identified the victim’s address in the case as that of a MakerDAO governance delegate — a crucial role within the MakerDAO ecosystem. 

Delegates are responsible for voting on governance proposals, governance polls, and executive votes, influencing significant decisions within the Maker protocol. 

Usually, MKR holders and delegates vote on proposals to determine their progression from initial polls to final executive votes. If approved, they’re implemented into the Maker protocol after a delay period known as the governance security module (GSM).

What are phishing scams?

Phishing scams occur when attackers masquerade as legitimate entities to steal sensitive information and gain access to your crypto wallet. 

Wallet drainers, a type of malware used in these scams, are often deployed on phishing websites to trick users into signing malicious transactions, leading to significant financial losses.

According to a Scam Sniffer report published earlier in the year, phishing scams drained $300 million from 320,000 users in 2023 alone.

Among the most severe cases in the Scam Sniffer report, a single victim lost $24.05 million due to phishing signatures such as Permit, Permit 2, Approve, and Increase Allowance.

This incident underscores the vulnerabilities that even key figures in the crypto community face.

This alarming trend underscores the importance of vigilance in the crypto community. Users must verify the authenticity of any entity they interact with and remain cautious of suspicious activities to protect their assets from phishing attacks.