Rapid7 Uncovers Operation Asterix: 885,000 Phone Numbers Targeted in Massive Cryptocurrency Phishing Campaign
Cybersecurity firm Rapid7 has uncovered a large-scale cryptocurrency phishing campaign known as Operation Asterix, which targeted approximately 885,000 phone numbers from various countries to steal assets from crypto investors.
The campaign, which was revealed in a Monday report by Rapid7, led to the identification of 5,576 accounts matched to users on Binance, with fake emails impersonating Crypto.com also recovered in the logs.
Of the 885,000 phone numbers targeted, the largest dataset consisted of 316,002 German mobile numbers, with additional directories covering Hong Kong, Bulgaria, the UK, the US, and Canadian fintech companies.
The phishing attacks and social engineering scams drove a significant portion of the crypto industry's losses in the first quarter of the year, accounting for $306 million out of the total $482 million lost, according to blockchain security company Hacken.