• A firm called Webaverse suffered a ~$4M social engineering exploit recently.
• The hack involved sophisticated ‘long game’ of social engineering backed by fake KYC info, fraudulent websites and an in-person meeting.
• This story comes shortly after a similar exploit resulted in the theft of over a dozen Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs with losses estimated at $1M.

Webaverse Suffers ~$4M Social Engineering Exploit

A firm building a game engine and MMO (massive multiplayer online game) inspired by metaverse characteristics, Webaverse recently took a brutal hit after suffering a ~$4M social engineering exploit. This wasn’t your ‘run of the mill’ hack – or at least, it hasn’t been presented as such. While the executional details of the hack are still very much in question, one thing is for sure: this was the result of a sophisticated ‘long game’ of social engineering backed by fake KYC info, fraudulent websites, and topped off with an in-person meeting.

Exploits Reach New Levels

These days, curious minds can’t be inquisitive enough – and due diligence just can’t be diligent enough. We covered an exploit that resulted in the theft of over a dozen Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs just two months ago, and another recent story with similar strokes tell us that one thing is for sure: with the dollar amounts in today’s crypto landscape, hackers and exploiters are willing to go to unbelievably great lengths to scam digital assets. December’s NFT heist featured an elaborate fake casting director who utilized a fake website, fake email domains, fake pitch decks, and more – all to build a façade of trust, and combat efforts of due diligence. The result was over $1M in immediate losses for the owner.

Webaverse Hack Details

This ‘similar but different’ story came to light this week via DefiLlama coder 0xngmi’s tweet which linked to an official statement from the Webaverse team drafted by their co-founder CEO Ahad Shams detailing that in November 2022 they had weeks dialogue with what turned out to be scammers posing as potential investors who eventually stole keys leading to their wallet containing approximately $4M USDT stablecoins (though some users have moved away from USDT).

Raising Capital Challenges In Crypto Environment

Raising capital in the crypto environment can bring unique challenges which means curious minds must remain inquisitive while also taking extra caution when conducting due diligence on prospective investments or partners otherwise they risk becoming victims like those mentioned above who have suffered significant financial losses as result of sophisticated scams.

Conclusion

In conclusion it’s important to remember that when dealing with large amounts that there will always be parties looking take advantage so its best practice take extra precautions when conducting business deals involving digital assets or cryptocurrencies otherwise you may find yourself victim as seen countless times before .