Crime, hacks and scams

Malicious crypto wallet extensions are turning browsers into attack vectors. Nominis explains why KYT monitoring is vital to stop wallet drainers that bypass traditional browser defenses.

October 2025 saw a wave of crypto exploits and regulatory shifts. Nominis breaks down $38M in losses, key attack trends, and emerging blockchain threats.

Nominis uncovers a Chinese Telegram group using hidden cameras to profit with USDT.

Nominis explores how KYT tools could support tax authorities in tracing hidden crypto profits.

Iran’s regime has built a sophisticated shadow banking network, using shell companies, offshore banks, trade-based money-laundering and increasingly cryptocurrencies like stablecoins, to evade sanctions and channel billions globally.

September 2025 saw $160M lost in 18 major crypto hacks. Explore the month’s biggest breaches, attack trends, and Nominis insights.

As the global financial system evolves to include digital assets, a new breed of illicit finance has emerged: Virtual Asset Money Laundering (VAML). Unlike traditional money laundering, which relies on complex networks of banks, shell companies, and intermediaries, VAML exploits the speed, automation, and opacity of blockchain infrastructure to obscure the origin of funds in minutes, not months.

August 2025 was a turbulent but comparatively lighter month for crypto exploits. While major losses totalled ~$65 million, less than half of July’s ~$141 million, the industry still faced serious disruptions. However, this was overshadowed by widespread phishing campaigns targeting individual wallets, which alone accounted for an enormous $97 million in losses. High-profile incidents ranged from the $48 million breach at BTCTurk, to the suspicious disappearance of CrediX, underscoring the diverse and persistent threats facing the sector.

Our Head of Intelligence at Nominis.io has uncovered a disturbing Telegram group, managed by a meticulously engineered black market operation based in China, selling date rape drugs to buyers worldwide.

In 2025, affinity fraud remains one of the most powerful weapons in a scammer’s arsenal. Fraudsters deliberately target communities bound by shared faith, culture, or heritage, exploiting trust and collective values to bypass normal skepticism.

July 2025 was marked by a series of high-profile security breaches across both centralized and decentralized crypto platforms. From sophisticated backend compromises to smart contract exploits and phishing attacks, the month exposed critical vulnerabilities in the digital asset ecosystem.

WeChat, developed by Chinese tech giant Tencent, is no longer just a messaging app, it is a digital ecosystem deeply embedded into the everyday lives of over 1.3 billion users.

June 2025 was a turbulent month for on-chain security, with a broad range of attacks having taken place, involving smart contract exploits, politically motivated exchange breaches, and more. In total, the month saw over $106.9 million in confirmed losses across a range of incidents, victimising DeFi protocols, centralized exchanges, and infrastructure providers.

As the financial and cyber frontiers blur, hostile state actors like Russia, Iran, and China are increasingly exploiting cryptocurrency not just as a medium of exchange, but as a tool of influence, espionage and sanctions resistance. What was once the realm of early adopters and technologists is now a battleground for statecraft in the age of decentralization.

May 2025 marked a shift in the nature of crypto threat activity. While the number of major attacks decreased compared to previous months, the contextual events, including real world crimes, phishing operations and compliance breaches, saw a noticeable rise in frequency and complexity.

April 2025 witnessed a surge in complex and multi-faceted attacks across the crypto ecosystem, highlighting once again that vulnerabilities are not just technical, they can be systematic.

March 2025 was marked by a range of significant security incidents in the crypto ecosystem, underscoring the persistent and evolving risks facing decentralized platforms and token projects.

As the world moves toward decentralized finance, more creators, freelancers, and global businesses are experimenting with crypto payments. From Bitcoin to stablecoins like USDT, the appeal is obvious: faster settlement, fewer intermediaries, and borderless transactions. But with this freedom comes a new level of responsibility, and risk.

Recent intelligence has uncovered a significant threat to global cybersecurity infrastructure: the exposure of Medialand, a bulletproof hosting provider long suspected of enabling a wide range of illicit activities

February 2025 witnessed a surge in crypto related attacks, ranging from rug pulls and social engineering to contract vulnerabilities and private key compromises.

The first month of 2025 has seen a wave of crypto exploits, highlighting persistent vulnerabilities in the industry. From bridge exploits and smart contract flaws to phishing scams and compromised admin keys, these attacks have resulted in millions of dollars in losses across multiple blockchain networks.

The decentralized finance (DeFi) space experienced a relatively quiet month in December 2024 compared to previous months, with the total value of reported hacks and exploits amounting to approximately $3.6 million—a significant drop from $65.2 million in November.

Storage collisions represent a significant vulnerability in Ethereum smart contracts, particularly when employing the proxy design pattern for contract upgrades.

As AI and crypto continue their meteoric rise, they bring game-changing benefits to individuals, startups, and enterprises alike. AI-driven automation is streamlining financial transactions, optimising trading strategies, and making compliance smarter than ever. Crypto is breaking barriers, enabling instant global payments, and fuelling a new wave of decentralised finance

Recently, the crypto community was shaken by a sophisticated UI spoofing attack targeting Bybit. Hackers created a fraudulent interface that perfectly mimicked the real multi-signature signing process,

Every year as Valentine’s Day approaches, online scammers ramp up their tactics to exploit the emotions and financial trust of unsuspecting victims

US federal prosecutors have indicted a 22 year old Canadian, Andean Medjedovic, for the exploitation of vulnerabilities in DeFI protocols, resulting in the theft of about $65 million in cryptocurrency assets.

Cryptocurrency ATMs are becoming increasingly widespread across the globe, with countries like Poland, Canada, Spain, and Australia expanding their networks to offer easier access to digital currencies.

YouTube has become a dangerous platform in regards to money laundering, specifically within the new and burgeoning world of crypto.

Crypto wallet drainers, also known as sweepers, are malicious smart contracts designed to quickly empty a crypto wallet of its funds. These tools are frequently used by phishing scammers.

The rise in hacking incidents has prompted many cryptocurrency companies to implement bounty programs as an immediate response. While these programs have recouped millions in stolen assets, they often act as temporary fixes that don't tackle underlying systemic issues.

The cryptocurrency sector is increasingly vulnerable to a growing array of sophisticated cyber threats. Among these, Info Stealers and Wallet Drainers have emerged as potent tools for executing unauthorized transactions and extracting sensitive data such as private keys.

. In 2024 alone, over $473 million worth of crypto has been lost to hacks and rug pulls, with over a hundred incidents each month. Here’s how to spot these scams and protect your investments.

This report provides an analysis of significant security incidents and vulnerabilities within the cryptocurrency space during November 2024.

This month’s report highlights a significant surge in rug pulls among major incidents, alongside, and perhaps due to, a concerning rise in social engineering and phishing attacks targeting individual users.

Recent crypto phishing attacks hit major Web3 accounts, causing $6M+ in losses. See attack patterns, compromised platforms, and security measures.

Analyze crypto wallet security threats and solutions, from DeFi access to new standards like ERC-4337. Deep dive into vulnerabilities and defenses.

This month, we've observed two significant losses totaling almost $74 million from centralized exchanges (CEXs).

Halloween 2024 brings creepy crypto-crimes and scams. Discover recent digital payment horror stories and key lessons to enhance your crypto security.