As Sam Bankman-Fried reappears on X, community members are being cautioned to authenticate official statements through trusted channels due to a fraudulent claims portal threat.
A new wave of fraud is being encountered by creditors of the defunct crypto exchange FTX, this time in the form of a fraudulent airdrop scheme.
FTX creditor advocate Sunil Kavuri warned on Sept. 24 that community members are being subjected to phishing emails that leverage information compromised in the Kroll data breach.
A message, of which a screenshot was shared by Kavuri, claimed that FTX creditors were eligible for an “ASTER” token distribution and directed them to connect their wallets to a claims portal.
8.8% of its token allocation is currently being distributed to community members by the project, which is the native token of a fast-rising DEX platform connected to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
However, the claims website was identified by Kavuri as a fraudulent site designed to drain wallets.
Creditors were urged by him to authenticate announcements only through trusted Telegram and X channels. He stated:
“Projects that give airdrops to FTX creditors will only do so through trustworthy sources/posts.”
FTX Creditors Sue Kroll Amid Ongoing Phishing Attacks and Data Mishandling Claims
FTX creditors have been plagued by a series of phishing attacks since the exchange’s collapse. These issues are particularly prevalent when the failed crypto trading platform is on the verge of repaying creditors.
Legal action has already been triggered by the frustration over the repeated attacks.
A lawsuit against Kroll was filed last month by FTX creditors, who contend its mishandling of sensitive information left them susceptible to cybercrime and caused more financial damage beyond their exchange losses.
SBF’s X Account Restored
As FTX creditors combat scam artists, the X account of the exchange’s disgraced founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was reinstated.
A simple “gm” post was published on Bankman-Fried’s X account on Sept. 24, igniting speculation about whether the disgraced founder was communicating from prison.
However, the chatter paused when a second post was issued by the account, which clarified that a friend now controlled it and was posting on behalf of Bankman-Fried.
A mailing address for the prisoner’s correspondence is now also listed on the account, implying that replies to letters may be received through the resurrected X profile.
All letters sent to the address will be read by authorities before they are opened by Bankman-Fried, as the address is marked with the word ‘monitored.’ This could be a warning for correspondents not to send anything incriminating, as he pleaded ‘not guilty’ to the charges against him.
Bankman-Fried, who was found guilty of orchestrating a massive crypto fraud, is serving a 25-year sentence. From a federal prison, he has intensified his efforts to appeal the sentence.
