MakerDAO Delegate Loses $11 Million in Phishing Scam

A MakerDAO governance delegate recently suffered an $11 million loss in a phishing scam involving Aave Ethereum Maker (aEthMKR) and Pendle USDe tokens. The incident, detected by blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer on June 23, occurred after the delegate unwittingly signed multiple fraudulent signatures.

Here are the key details:

• The Scam: The attacker exploited a permit phishing signature, tricking the victim into signing transactions that allowed access to their wallet. Within seconds, 3,657 aEthMKR tokens were transferred from the sender address (0xfb94d3404c1d3d9d6f08f79e58041d5ea95accfa) to the recipient address (0x739772254924a57428272f429bd55f30eb36bb96).
• The Victim: The victim was identified as a MakerDAO governance delegate—a crucial role within the MakerDAO ecosystem. Delegates participate in voting on governance proposals, polls, and executive decisions that impact the Maker protocol.
• Approval Process: Proposals progress from initial polls to final executive votes. If approved, they are implemented into the Maker protocol after a waiting period known as the Governance Security Module (GSM), which prevents sudden protocol changes.
• Phishing Scams: These scams involve cybercriminals posing as reputable entities to deceive individuals into providing sensitive information. In this case, the victim fell for multiple permit network phishing signatures, resulting in significant token loss.

According to a Scam Sniffer report from earlier this year, phishing scams drained $300 million from 320,000 users in 2023.

Sentiment: Negative