The theft, which took place on May 3, was referred to as a “‘dust’ attack.” The funds were returned to the victim thanks to the efforts of UAE-based Match Systems and cryptocurrency exchange Cryptex.net.
Crypto Whale Loses $69.3 Million in WBTC
The story, as covered by crypto.news earlier this month, unfolded when a crypto whale was targeted in an “address poisoning” attack, resulting in the bold theft of 1,155.28 WBTC. This amounted to an astounding $69.3 million at the time.
According to blockchain data, the victim initially tried to communicate with the attacker, offering a tempting 10% bounty, but received no response. Unexpectedly, on May 9, the attacker broke the silence and expressed interest in contacting the victim through Telegram.
Match Systems CEO Andrei Kutin revealed that the victim enlisted their company’s expertise to track down and reclaim the stolen funds.
The trail of the heist led to a convoluted series of transactions, with the stolen funds being shuffled between multiple addresses to obscure their source.
Nevertheless, Match Systems’ investigators proved adept at following the illicit flow of assets, steadily narrowing down the culprits responsible for the theft.
Mystery Persists
Match Systems refrained from divulging all the particulars regarding the recuperation of the purloined funds. Additionally, the sudden change in the attacker’s behavior, shifting from ignoring the victim’s communication attempts to actively initiating contact, has stirred curiosity and speculation within the cryptocurrency community.
Match Systems solely disclosed that following an arduous week-long pursuit, they successfully reclaimed the stolen funds and restored them to their rightful owner. Even with the minor depreciation linked to the conversion of WBTC to Ether (ETH) by the attacker, reports suggest that the victim managed to recover their entire lost fortune.
Victims Advised to Report Theft Promptly
Deceptive tactics such as address poisoning, which imitates genuine wallet addresses, represent a substantial risk to users’ financial safety. Match Systems advises that the sooner victims of address poisoning incidents alert specialists, the greater their chances of reclaiming their stolen funds.
The company suggests that the likelihood of recovering assets stands at an impressive 70% if victims report incidents within the initial hour. This success rate decreases to 60% if cases are reported within four hours and further drops to 50% when reported within 24 hours. Waiting a month drastically reduces the chances of a successful outcome to just 20%.
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