Fake Ethereum Denver website linked to notorious phishing wallet

A fake website of the popular Ethereum Denver conference is the latest phishing target of a red-flagged smart contract that has stolen over $300,000 worth of Ether (ETH).

The popular conference saw its website duplicated by hackers this week in order to trick users into connecting their MetaMask wallets. According to Blockfence, which identified the fraudulent website, the smart contract has accessed more than 2800 wallets and has stolen over $300,000 over the past six months.

Another day, another scam. This time the scammer targeted the @EthereumDenver website. Blockfence is here to protect you and fight scammers together: The scam contract was marked as "High Risk" by our ML algorithm and our partners at @GoplusSecurity pic.twitter.com/Jdtoz2Bgu4

— Blockfence (@blockfence_io) February 20, 2023

Ethereum Denver also shared a warning to its followers on Twitter warning of the malicious website.

Hello Fellow Bufficorns!!Please be aware that there is a FAKE ETHDenver website that is asking for you to connect your wallet.“Go-ETHDenver” is not us. Please report the site! pic.twitter.com/1dt4hYmfvO

— ETHDenver (@EthereumDenver) February 20, 2023

Blockfence CEO Omri Lahav told Cointelegraph that users were prompted to connect their Metamask wallets via the usual ‘connect wallet’ button. The website prompts a transaction that, if approved, carries out the malicious function and steals the users' funds.

Blockfence’s research team identified the incident while tracking different trends in the industry. Lahav said that the smart contract executing the scam had stolen over 177 ETH since its deployment midway through 2022:

“Since the smart contract was deployed almost 6 months ago, it’s possible that it was used on other phishing websites.”

Hackers had gone as far as paying for a Google advert to promote the malicious website’s URL, banking on search trends being high, with Eth Denver taking place on Feb. 24 and 25. The fake website appeared second on a Google search, above the actual ETH Denver website.

As previously reported, hacks and scams continue to be commonplace in the cryptocurrency ecosystem. 2022 saw over $2.8 billion of cryptocurrency stolen last year through a variety of different hacks and exploits.