Mark Cuban, the owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a well-known billionaire, fell victim to a phishing attack on September 15th. His MetaMask wallet, which held encrypted assets, was hacked and resulted in a total loss of $870,000 (approximately NT$27 million).
The theft was initially discovered by online investigator WazzCrypto, who noticed that one of Cuban’s wallets had been inactive for the past six months but suddenly experienced a significant outflow of funds. Cuban himself confirmed the attack, stating that he lost various tokens and NFTs, including $555,000 worth of stETH tokens from the Ethereum staking protocol Lido Finance, $175,000 worth of USDC stablecoins, and NFTs from Ethereum domains (ENS), Polygon, and Superrare. This incident not only caused significant losses for Cuban but also raised concerns about the security of encrypted assets among the public.
How did the hacker succeed? In an interview with DL News, Cuban admitted that he hadn’t used his MetaMask wallet for a while and accidentally downloaded a malicious version of the wallet when he attempted to use it again. He believed that the attacker had been monitoring his actions. This type of scam is not new, as many hackers create fake extensions or related applications of MetaMask in an attempt to deceive users into revealing their private keys or seed phrases. Once hackers obtain this critical information, they gain control over the assets in the wallet.
Cuban further explained that luckily, only one MetaMask wallet was affected, and the assets in his other wallets remained intact. It’s worth noting that Cuban managed to transfer $2.5 million worth of USDC on Polygon to Coinbase, saving a significant amount of funds. Additionally, his CryptoPunk NFT, currently valued at least $80,000, was successfully transferred to another wallet.
Cuban is one of the prominent figures actively involved in the cryptocurrency field. He has long been a passionate investor in blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies. He has invested in NFT trading platform OpenSea, supported multiple NFT projects, and even launched his own NFT project. He is also actively engaged in cryptocurrency legislation.
It’s worth mentioning that in 2021, Cuban invested in the TITAN stablecoin by Iron Finance. However, the TITAN token collapsed overnight, resulting in a complete loss of his investment. Despite this setback, Cuban remains optimistic about cryptocurrencies and believes that they are the future trend. He stated, “I got hit like everyone else. I’m alive and learning.”
In response to Cuban’s incident, CZ, the CEO of Binance, emphasized the importance of remaining vigilant and learning how to better protect one’s encrypted assets, even for experienced users.
Reference:
– The Block
– DL News
– Cointelegraph
Proofread by: Gao Jingyuan