The exceptional returns from the ICO market over 2017 have drawn in huge numbers of retail traders, unfortunately the number of scams has increased with the price. Last week, hundreds of users were scammed by a phishing email which was sent to unwary Bee Token participants. Many of the ICO participants were then lured on to send their Ethereum Tokens to wallets controlled by the scammer.
While the Bee Token ICO was ongoing, the scammer was sending multiple emails that invited recipients to send money to the hackers wallet. The emails were sent posing as the Bee team and encouraged users who wanted to buy Bee Tokens to send Ethereum to wallets under the hackers control. The hacker managed to steal more than a million dollars worth of Ethereum tokens.
Bee Team Response
As soon as the Bee Token Team saw this activity, a series of alerts were sent to the community in order to prevent people from sending money to the scammer. The Bee team became aware of this issue shortly after the ICO launched, and sent out three security alerts, informed people that the ICO was taking place via its website alone, and even created a Google Form to allow users to report scams. In a Medium post authored by the Bee token Team the participants were advised:
“The Bee Token has received reports of fake emails, Telegram accounts, etc. claiming to represent the Bee Token ICO Token Generation Event. Please note that we will NEVER EVER communicate an Ethereum address through an email or Direct Message to you via Telegram.”
The ICO
The Bee Token ICO started on January 31 and ended on February 2, when the Bee team shut down the ICO after raising $5 million. The funds raisedwill now help the team build a new decentralized blockchain-based house rental application, much like Airbnb.
The three wallets contained over $1 million when the Bee Token ICO ended on Friday, but it is believed the hacker made off with even more money.
The Backlash
The victims are accusing the Bee Token Team of poor email listing management. Despite the scammers not sending t the emails from official Bee Token addresses, victims are claiming that the hackermust have had access to the company’s email list.
Gmail lets users insert a tag into their email addresses when they subscribe to mailing lists, when they receive emails for which they did not subscribe.
As more money floods into the cryptocurrency and ICO market more hackers will be drawn to the multi-billion dollar Because of the ICO and cryptocurrency boom, it is inevitable to see such type of scams, appear. The best thing one can do to protect against this kind of tricks is to double check every action and if you are going to invest on an ICO, be sure to go to the site and start from there.
