Coinbase’s Base chain has become a prime target for scammers, as evidenced by two of the top 10 largest thefts taking place on the network, amounting to over 20% of the total stolen in the month. While there was a decrease in crypto hacks in April compared to previous months, some networks are seeing a rise in scam activity as scammers seek out new ways to entice victims onto different platforms. Scam Sniffer data reveals that Coinbase’s Base network, which operates on the Ethereum blockchain, experienced a 145% increase in scam activity in April.
The blockchain intelligence firm reported that scammer activity on the Base network surged by almost 1,900% since January, resulting in approximately $170,000 being stolen through phishing scams. In April, nearly 90% of the stolen assets were ERC-20 tokens, the standard tokens used on the Ethereum network. Common phishing tactics such as Permit, IncreaseAllowance, and Uniswap Permit2 were responsible for significant losses, according to Scam Sniffer.
Despite the overall decrease in crypto attacks in April, the first significant drop since 2024, some notable incidents still occurred. The largest hack targeted Hedgey Finance, a token infrastructure platform, which lost around $47 million worth of crypto. The second-largest hack hit the Fix Float exchange, leading to the theft of $3 million in crypto due to a vulnerability in a third-party service provider. The third-largest attack on Grand Base resulted in hackers gaining $2.67 million.
In total, over $401 million has been stolen through hacks and rug pulls since the start of the year, marking a 25.1% decrease compared to the same period last year when over $536 million worth of hacks occurred, according to Immunefi. CertiK reports that damage from hacks and scams has reached the lowest level since 2021.