On February 16, a smart social engineering scheme tricked a number of well-known cryptocurrency news sites into advertising a fictitious $10 million Uniswap airdrop.
TIn addition to the official Uniswap v4 announcement, the con artist, assuming the identity of a Uniswap Foundation representative, gave coordinated publicity.
CryptoSlate refuses to cover the airdrop, due to possible harmful modifications to tracking links after publishing. The accompanying airdrop was shown to be a hoax, despite Uniswap’s v4 announcement turning out to be authentic.
By mentioning a chat with “Uniswap’s VP of Communication” and offering advantageous payment coverage, the con artist methodically increased his or her credibility. This degree of cooperation indicates that con artists preying on the cryptocurrency media have evolved their strategies.
As the discussion about a possible collaboration went on, the con artist started to get more intricate with their deception. To demonstrate the authenticity of the campaign, a faked screenshot of an email received to CryptoSlate is provided below.
However, CryptoSlate discovered that the magazine was utilizing tracking links that used redirects rather than standard UTM settings. This meant that the links could be altered at any time to point to any website, requiring the publication to change the text.
After confronting the scammer, there was no further correspondence. The scammer’s company is based in the UK, which is among the top three nations in the world for cryptocurrency crime in 2023.
The aforementioned article fraudulently announced the release of Uniswap V4 and a $10 million UNI airdrop. It was successfully published on multiple cryptocurrency media websites.
It had true links to the Uniswap website, but after the company made its official statement, those links were modified to lead to a phishing website.
In particular, it announced a $10 million UNI airdrop in celebration of the V4 debut. It was explained as a “first-come, first-serve” program designed to honor the community and draw in new members.
The Uniswap Foundation’s announcement of the approximate launch date for Uniswap V4 after the Ethereum Dencun upgrade, on the other hand, is the real news.
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