Pink, Inferno, Pussy, and Venom: 4 New Wallet Drainers Threatening Your Wallet
Crypto thieves called drainers are making millions this year, replacing the notorious Monkey Drainer. Stay alert!
Four major cryptocurrency thieves, known as crypto drainers, have replaced the infamous Monkey Drainer. These drainers, named Pink, Inferno, Pussy, and Venom, have already targeted thousands and stolen millions in crypto this year.
These four have together stolen $66.4 million since the start of 2023, as reported by Web3 anti-scam platform Scam Sniffer. Venom Drainer has stolen the most, almost $27.5 million, since February. Inferno Drainer is the second, stealing over $21.2 million since January and has almost 45,800 victims.
Pussy Drainer and Pink Drainer together have stolen $17.5 million from over 6,000 victims. Monkey Drainer, during its operation, was estimated to have stolen about $13 million worth of digital assets.
Crypto drainers trick the victim into approving a harmful transaction in their crypto wallet. This allows a smart contract to transfer out some or all assets from the wallet.
Scam Sniffer explained that most crypto drainers are used by groups carrying out phishing scams, with the drainer taking a percentage of the stolen money. Some drainers even charge an additional access fee.
Scam Sniffer also mentioned that some drainers offer "add-ons" like imitating popular nonfungible token (NFT) marketplaces such as Blur and X2Y2 to steal NFTs approved to trade on these platforms.
According to Scam Sniffer, once drainers steal a certain amount of money, they stop their activities to avoid law enforcement. But as one drainer leaves, another one takes its place because it's profitable and no one has been arrested so far.
Currently, many crypto-draining services are being advertised on Telegram. The crypto-draining service Monkey Drainer announced in March that they were closing down, and recommended Venom as a "flawless" service to their fellow cyber criminals.