A MakerDAO governance representative lost $11 million worth of Aave Ethereum (aEthMK) and Pendle USDe assets due to signing multiple phishing signatures. Blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer detected the incident early on June 23. The user fell victim to the phishing scam after signing multiple phishing signatures, resulting in the loss of crypto assets.
$11 Million Attack Draws Attention
The sender address 0xfb94d3404c1d3d9d6f08f79e58041d5ea95accfa transferred 3,657 aEthMK assets to the recipient address 0x739772254924a57428272f429bd55f30eb36bb96, and the transaction was confirmed quickly within 11 seconds. Crypto journalist Colin Wu reported that Arkham identified the victim in the case as a MakerDAO governance representative. The delegate is known for playing a significant role in the MakerDAO system, contributing to its smooth operation and decision-making processes.
Delegates are responsible for voting on governance proposals, governance polls, and executive votes that affect important decisions within the Maker protocol. Typically, Maker (MKR) holders and delegates vote on proposals progressing from initial votes to final executive votes.
If a proposal is approved, it is applied to the Maker protocol after a waiting period known as the Governance Security Module (GSM), which serves as a security measure to prevent sudden changes in the protocol.
Details on the Incident
The phishing scam in question is known as a crypto scam where victims are tricked into signing transactions that allow scammers to access wallets and drain funds. While not new, Chainalytics has explained that the technique is now being used more frequently by scammers.
Phishing scams are a common form of cybercrime where perpetrators trick individuals into providing sensitive information by pretending to be reputable entities. In this case, the user was tricked into signing multiple phishing signatures, leading to the loss of their tokens.
According to a Scam Sniffer report published earlier this year, phishing scams caused losses of $300 million from 320,000 users in 2023 alone. Among the most severe cases in the Scam Sniffer report, a single victim lost $24.05 million due to phishing signatures like approval and permission increase.
