Hackers have reportedly been able to scam customers of cryptocurrency startup BeeToken out of nearly $1m worth of Ethereum in just a day. The hackers targeted BeeToken's ICO (initial coin offering) with phishing attacks and were able to dupe numerous investors into sending over their funds into an Ethereum address which was controlled by the cybercriminals.
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BeeToken took to Twitter to confirm the phishing attacks, warning users to remain wary of emails and Telegram messages asking users for funds. There are apparently different versions of the phishing emails targeting BeeToken's investors, with one even promoting a non-existent partnership with Microsoft.

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It is still unclear how hackers managed to gain access to BeeToken's investors' mail IDs to send out the phishing emails. According to a report by The Next Web, the hackers have already managed to raise half of the funds that BeeToken's legitimate ICO has raised so far.

"Please note that we will NEVER EVER communicate an Ethereum address through an email or Direct Message to you via Telegram," BeeToken said in a Medium post. "We will NOT be using any QR codes in our communications. We will also NOT be giving 100% bonuses and we will NOT accept more than 0.3 ETH for the first 24 hours of our Token Generation Event. In addition, we will NOT be partnering with Microsoft."

The firm also informed users that the funding address can only be found at https://tokensaleinfo.beetoken.com.

"The address is accompanied by a video of our CEO, Jonathan Chou, confirming the address and holding up the same hand-written and typed ETH address. If there is only ONE ETH address in the video instead of two, that is also a scam," BeeToken said.

The three fraudulent Ethereum addresses associated with the phishing attack have collectively amassed around $928,000 from potential investors, CoinDesk reported. However, it is still unclear as to how many investors have been affected by the phishing attacks.

"Cybercriminals can easily sell their extraction virtually without any traces and risks. High profitability and almost a certain success of the attacks pours oil on the flame," High-Tech Bridge CEO Ilia Kolochenko told IBTimes UK.

"Worse, law enforcement agencies have a persistent lack of human and financial resources to investigate cybercrime, and won't be able to help the victims. We shall expect a steady growth of cybersecurity incidents related to digital coins and ICO in 2018," Kolochenko added.

Ethereum
It is still unclear as to how many investors have been affected by the phishing attacks Pixabay/Creative Commons
Ethereum Hacking Cybercrime