Alert for Crypto-Currency Investors: ‘Confirm your Wallet’

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Australian crypto-currency holders are being warned of a new phishing scam. (Source: Getty)

Australian crypto-currency users have been made aware of an emerging scam that is attempting to take their funds.

MailGuard has sent out an alert and said it has been blocking emails that are being masqueraded as coming from MetaMask, a crypto-wallet that has more than 30 million users worldwide.

Individuals have been told to look out for an email with the subject line, “Your wallet will be suspended soon” and the sender name “Meta-Mask”.

The email uses MetaMask branding and tells the recipient to confirm their crypto wallet before it is suspended the next day. The only thing that could raise suspicion is the sender’s email address, according to MailGuard, which turns out to be from a Japanese construction business.

When the ‘confirm your wallet’ button is clicked, users are directed to a website that is “nearly identical to the MetaMask website”. The user is then taken to a page that requests them to enter their recovery phrase words.

“If the victim inputs their phrase words and clicks the ‘Recover Wallet’ button, they are led to the genuine MetaMask site, none the wiser. The fraudster will then be able to access the victim’s wallet and will swiftly transfer any crypto coins or tokens into their own account,” MailGuard said.

MailGuard cryptocurrency scam

Aussies have been warned to watch out for this email. (Source: MailGuard)

MetaMask has said it would never send emails about an account, and urged users to not click on any links or give out their recovery phrases.

Crypto-currencies don’t have the same safeguards as regular banks and credit cards, MailGuard warned, so you may not be able to recover your lost funds if you were hacked.

Aussies lost over $24 million to phishing scams last year – where fraudsters tried to deceive you into giving out your personal information.

One red flag is if a company or provider contacts you out of the blue and requests you to update or verify your details.

Other indications of a scam include messages that don’t address you by name, or contain mistakes and website addresses that look unfamiliar, and ask for your details.

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