Crypto Phishing Losses Dive 83%-Basic Human Error?

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Per a Shocking! Scam Sniffer report, crypto phishing losses supposedly “plunged” 83% to $83.85 million in 2025 from $494 million the year prior. I can’t decide if humans are just chickens with wallets or if scammers decided to nap it off. 🤡

Leading theories: The economy suddenly improved, or people stopped falling for spam links that say “Free Shiba Inu!” cp Survivor reached peak popularity.

  • Smaller Scale of Shenanigans: Signature phishing losses fell to $83.9M in 2025, presumably because scammers decided to nap it off. 💸
  • Victim Drop: Victims fell 68% to 106,106 from 332,000 in 2024. Congrats on the achievement unlocked: Canny Hacking 101.
  • Seasonal Trends: Losses spiked during Q3 market rallies, then crashed like a T-800. Classic. 🧊

The largest single theft dropped 88.3% to $6.5 million from $55.48 million. A “smaller” loss by scammer standards, which is still enough to buy a B-52 bomber and still have change for a latte. ☕

Q3: The Summer of (Phishing) Fun

Third quarter crypto phishing losses totaled $31.04 million across 39,886 victims-because of course, summer is the natural season for wallet drainers. The quarter accounted for 37% of annual losses while representing one-quarter of the year. Stats are so convincing when you lie with them. 🧠

August and September combined for $23.95 million in losses during the “most active trading period.” According to the report, average loss per victim was $778 in Q3. Good job, everyone. The median income of a scammer is probably higher than your dental plan.

Fourth quarter saw a sharp decline with $13.09 million in losses across 22,592 victims. December scored a record low of $2.04 million and 5,313 victims. The scammers’ performance review must’ve been brutal. 🛋️

“Market-Loss Correlation: Q3’s highest losses coincided with ETH’s strongest rally,” the report stated. Let me guess-the writer’s name is Gary. 🕵️♂️

November saw losses surge 137%, per victim, with averages hitting $1,225. A happy medium between “mortgage money” and “buying a used Camry.” The report chalked this up to “monthly fluctuation,” which is Sarcasm Code for “someone’s numbers are off.” 😅

EIP-7702: How to Hack a Lunchbox

Attackers exploited EIP-7702 account abstraction shortly after the Pectra upgrade, bundling multiple malicious acts into one witty signature. Technical jargon like this isn’t actually a buzzword-it’s scammer-speak for “nobody reads the fine print.”

August’s EIP-7702 cases totaled $2.54 million. Permit signatures scored $8.72 million across three cases. Because nothing says “trust me” like a permit. 🚧

August’s Transfer signature heists reaped $4.87 million. April’s increaseApproval stunt netted $3.13 million in WBTC. Scammers are just… increasingly approval of chaos.

The largest 2025 theft involved $6.5 million in stETH and aEthWBTC via Permit signature. September rolled in with flair. A September attack used Permit2 signatures like holiday cookies-because why not steal a lot while making it sound festive?

“Six of 11 big cases in 2025 happened during July-September,” the report noted. Or as we call it: The Season of “Oops I Clicked a Phishing Link.” 🕹️

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2026-01-04 18:08