Hackers recently launched a hostile takeover of the Azuki Twitter account, resulting in a scam that drained the wallets of some users. In just 30 minutes, the attackers stole over $750,000 worth of USDC, 11 NFTs, and over 3.9 ETH through malicious links that pretended to be a “land mint” for the popular Azuki NFT project. The links instead directed users to a “drainer” contract that tricked them into signing a transaction that transferred assets from their wallets.
Many NFT traders quickly realized that the suspicious Azuki tweets, which referred to the fake “surprise mint,” indicated that the account had been compromised. Within an hour, the official Azuki Twitter account had been removed from search results, and the malicious tweets were deleted. Azuki Community Manager, Rose, confirmed that the Azuki account had been compromised.
MetaMask Security Researcher Harry Denley noticed the scam almost immediately and said that MetaMask had since blocked the malicious domain. The Phantom wallet team also marked the malicious domains as unsafe, alerting users who attempted to connect their Phantom wallets to the sites.
This is not the first time that the NFT collection has been targeted by scammers. In April 2022, a deluge of compromised verified Twitter accounts with Azuki profile pictures promoted airdrop scams in an effort to capitalize on the anime-inspired brand. And earlier this week, the Twitter account of trading platform Robinhood was similarly hacked to promote a crypto scam, though the hackers in this instance were only able to make away with roughly $8,000 in crypto.
The Azuki team is currently working to investigate the incident and are taking steps to prevent similar attacks in the future. They have urged their followers to always “go out on several channels” to confirm announcements and to reach out to the Azuki “mod team” on Discord when in doubt. They also emphasized the importance of being vigilant and taking necessary precautions to protect one’s assets.
The incident serves as a reminder of the importance of being cautious when dealing with any kind of financial transaction online, especially in the volatile world of cryptocurrency and NFTs. It highlights the need for users to be aware of potential scams and to always verify the authenticity of any links or transactions before proceeding.
Overall, the Azuki team and community have been proactive in their response to the attack, and they are determined to ensure the safety and security of their users’ assets moving forward. They are also working to support those who have been affected by the scam and are committed to helping them recover their lost funds.
