A sponsored Google ad claiming to promote Sony\u2019s blockchain project, Soneium, has been exposed as a crypto wallet drainer.<\/p>\n
This incident adds to the growing threat of wallet drainers that have plagued the crypto space.<\/p>\n
In a post<\/a> shared on October 22 via X by blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer, the firm detailed how a search for \u201cSoneium\u201d on Google led users to a phishing site.\u00a0It appeared to be a legitimate page for Sony\u2019s blockchain platform, reportedly containing hidden software meant to drain crypto wallets from unsuspecting visitors.<\/p>\n Scam Sniffer explained that the ad linked to a website with a domain name almost identical to the official Soneium website. The phishing page looked like an unfinished landing page for a UK-based radiology service, giving it a deceptive and professional appearance.<\/p>\n A separate post highlighted<\/a> the ease with which users could fall victim to this hoax, especially if they mistakenly typed \u201cSomeium\u201d instead of \u201cSoneium\u201d in their search.<\/p>\n The security company also noted that the criminals used sophisticated techniques to bypass Google\u2019s security measures. This allowed the ad to remain undetected for some time.<\/p>\n Soneium is an Ethereum layer-2 blockchain developed by Sony Block Solutions Labs, a collaboration between Sony and blockchain firm Startale Labs. The platform launched its testnet in August 2024.<\/p>\n This latest incident adds to a growing list of crypto-related phishing attacks. Scam Sniffer previously reported<\/a> that over $46 million worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from 10,800 phishing victims in September alone.<\/p>\n For the third quarter of 2024, more than $127 million worth of digital assets were stolen in such incidents, with Ether wallets being a frequent target.\u00a0Back in late April 2024, the Web3 security company also revealed <\/a>that over $4 million had been stolen in just a few weeks through similar malicious websites promoted via Google Search.<\/p>\n Thieves took advantage of slight changes in domain names to trick users into visiting fraudulent crypto websites, with major financial consequences for many.<\/p>\n In September, a separate crypto deception hit Google Play Store users. A fraudulent app called WalletConnect imitated<\/a> the legitimate WalletConnect protocol but was designed to drain users\u2019 crypto wallets. This app managed to deceive over 10,000 people and stole $70,000 from users before being uncovered.<\/p>\n Crypto wallet-draining programs have been a persistent threat in the crypto space. A Scam Sniffer report from late 2023 showed that these malicious tools were responsible for more than $295 million in losses that affected<\/a> around 324,000 victims that year.<\/p>\n The post Scam Sniffer Exposes Google Ad for Sony\u2019s Soneium Blockchain as Crypto Wallet Drainer<\/a> appeared first on CryptoPotato<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A sponsored Google ad claiming to promote Sony\u2019s blockchain project, Soneium, has been exposed as a crypto wallet drainer. This incident adds to the growing threat of wallet drainers that have plagued the crypto space. Google Ad Scam Targets Soneium\u2019s Users In a post shared on October 22 via X by blockchain security firm Scam […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":15789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-discovery"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15788"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/15789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mycryptomania.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The Broader Wallet Drainer Threat<\/h2>\n