Fake Google Ad Steals $550,000 in USDC from Hyperliquid User

A Hyperliquid user lost $550,000 in USDC after clicking on a fake Google ad. The ad directed the user to a phony version of the exchange, causing them to sign away their funds.

Data from Arkham Intelligence revealed three USDC transfers under one transaction hash. Most of it, $440,000, went to 0x98b276…13C55. Two smaller transfers were made to 0x93b6B2…d6D1 and 0x6fE314…B566, totaling about $82,500 and $27,500 respectively.

Google shut down the account behind the ad after FlashRescue co-founder Darcy pointed out the theft in a post. Scammers have been using paid search to target DeFi users since 2020, when fake Balancer and Uniswap ads went after private keys and wallet approvals.