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Fake Uniswap phishing ad on Google steals trader’s life savings

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Fake Uniswap phishing ad on Google steals trader's life savings

A Polymarket trader has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in crypto because of a Uniswap phishing ad that appeared at the top of a Google search result. Hundreds of friends and associates filled up the comment section with condolences.

The founder of DefiLlama broadcasted the terrible story as a warning to the crypto community.

The founder of Uniswap – the real Uniswap – repeated that warning, “These scams are horrible, we’ve been fighting them for years.” He called the disturbing industry of fake websites that rely on ads to lure crypto investors “the ad economy” and implored that it “needs to go.”

Uniswap is a common way for crypto traders to exchange digital tokens without trusting a centralized crypto exchange with custody of their funds.

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The six-figure loss is the latest example in an ongoing series where scammers buy Google Ads to direct users to fraudulent, lookalike websites that mimic real crypto interfaces like Uniswap. Victims click the ad, connect their wallet, and sign a malicious transaction. That approval grants the power to drain assets or make trades from the wallet.

For years, fraudulent Google search ads have led users to phishing pages that impersonate well-known crypto apps.

Uniswap phishing scam-as-a-service

The particular wallet drainer tool used in this attack was AngelFerno. This ‘scam-as-a-service’ wallet drainer script targets DeFi users, including prior front-end attacks that impersonated OpenEden and Curvance websites.

AngelFerno is live on multiple domains that are itemized on GitHub phishing blocklists. Users should not navigate to them.

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Particularly nefarious attackers use Cyrillic characters in URLs, also known as Punycode URLs, to make the fake domain appear visually indistinguishable from the real URL.

Read more: Crypto phishing blitz hits CoinMarketCap, Cointelegraph, and Trezor

Chainalysis and other security researchers have flagged Google phishing ads as a major attack vector. In July 2025, for example, a DeFi user lost $1.2 million through a nearly identical Uniswap scam involving fraudulent Google Ads.

Forensic investigator ZachXBT called for severe consequences against Google for failing to prevent phishing ads.

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Protos has reached out to the victim for confirmation about the mid-six-figure and “entire net worth” estimate of his loss but did not receive an immediate response prior to publication. The victim has said publicly that he lost six figures after being fooled by a Google ad.

Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks. For more informed news, follow us on X, Bluesky, and Google News, or subscribe to our YouTube channel.

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Crypto World

Crypto Derivatives Hit $18.6T In Q1 2026: CoinGlass

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Crypto Derivatives Hit $18.6T In Q1 2026: CoinGlass

Binance maintained its leading position in crypto derivatives trading in the first quarter of 2026, while decentralized exchange Hyperliquid broke into the top 10 venues by volume, according to CoinGlass.

Derivatives trading remained the dominant force in the crypto market in Q1 2026, totaling $18.6 trillion compared with $1.94 trillion in spot trading, according to a CoinGlass report on Friday.

The analysts said trading activity remained strong over the quarter, though liquidity and capital became even more concentrated at the top. “Q1 was not about euphoria. It was about recovery, concentration, and shifting market structure,” CoinGlass said.

The data shows how a small group of exchanges continue to dominate crypto derivatives, even as decentralized platforms begin to emerge as competitors.

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Binance handles $4.9 trillion in derivatives versus $640 billion in spot

Binance processed about $4.9 trillion in derivatives volume in Q1 2026, or roughly 35% of activity among the top 10 exchanges. In 2025, the exchange held about 29% of $85.7 trillion in total derivatives volume.

The exchange also dominated spot markets at a similar share, with Q1 volumes amounting to roughly $640 billion, or around 34% of total volumes among the top 10.

Source: CoinGlass

Binance’s dominance points to its resilience despite controversy during the quarter, after several crypto community members, including OKX founder and CEO Star Xu, alleged that it played a major role in the mass liquidation event of Oct. 10, 2025.

Related: Binance sues Wall Street Journal amid report of DOJ Iran probe

Binance repeatedly denied the claims, saying the crash was driven primarily by macroeconomic factors, market maker risk controls and network congestion.

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Hyperliquid enters top 10 as perpetual DEXs gain ground

Hyperliquid, a perpetual decentralized exchange, reached a key milestone in the first quarter of 2026, breaking into the top 10 derivatives exchanges by volume roughly three years after its launch.

The platform recorded about $492.7 billion in trading volume during the quarter, securing its place among the industry’s largest derivatives venues, including Binance, OKX, Bybit, Gate, BitGet, BingX, LBank, WhiteBIT and Coinbase.

Related: Wallet in Telegram launches perpetual futures trading with Lighter

The milestone comes after steady growth across previous quarters. In its 2025 report, CoinGlass said Hyperliquid nearly dominated the entire perp DEX sector, with its market share reaching up to 70% at times.

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Perp DEX activity also expanded rapidly in 2025, with volumes nearly tripling over the year and accounting for up to 90% of volumes across major derivatives exchanges.

Magazine: Your guide to surviving this mini-crypto winter