The co-founder of a crypto startup, Nest Wallet, Bill Lou, has lost $125,000 to scammers while attempting to claim an airdrop. 

Lou, whose startup is working to enhance crypto wallet security expressed shock that he could fall for the same trick he was trying to protect other people from. 

• “I’m devastated guys…I just got scammed out of $125k of stEth while trying to claim the $LFG airdrop. And I’m a founder of a wallet startup that’s trying to improve wallet security,” Lou shared via a post on X 

How it happened 

Sharing how he fell into the scammer(s) trap, the Nest Wallet co-founder said:  

• “I can’t believe this is happening, I’ve always been so careful. I saw an article guide to the airdrop and followed the link to sign a message. I didn’t even question it…This is the first time I’ve been scammed. I always read about others but you never think it could happen to you… 
• “It looked like such a simple message. It’s always someone else’s problem. Anyone who can help would be appreciated. 

Other crypto users scammed 

Providing an update after launching an investigation into the incident, Lou said he discovered that the hacker had scammed a total of 66 ETH, which means on top of his 52, another 14 ETH (~$31k) of tokens were stolen from others. 

• “I have been investigating the scammer’s wallet with @HackersResidue and found some pretty interesting evidence. We seem to have made some connections to certain exchanges they like to use and a string of transfers dating back to over 6 years ago. It does not seem like a 1 person job,” he shared.  

Crypto investors continue to be victims

Last year, a report by g bug bounty and security services platform for web3, Immunefi, revealed that cryptocurrency investors globally lost a total of $3.9 billion to hackers and fraudsters in 2022.  

A breakdown of the loss shows that $3.7 billion was lost to hacks in 2022 across 134 specific incidents, while $174.9 was lost to fraud across 34 specific incidents.

Most of the sum lost to fraud was lost by four specific projects: Ronin Network, BNB Chain, Wormhole, and FTX.  

The loss was, however, a decline compared to what hackers and fraudsters stole from crypto investors in 2021, the report says.

The 2022 figure represents a 51.2% decrease compared to 2021 when hackers and fraudsters stole $8.08 billion.