Bitget CEO Gracy Chen Reports $80,000 Loss from Scam Linked to Lazarus Group

Gracy Chen, the CEO of Bitget, a cryptocurrency exchange, has revealed that she lost approximately $80,000 due to a social engineering scam that involved impersonation of journalists. The attack, which is believed to be connected to the North Korean hacking group Lazarus Group, utilized a compromised account from a well-known crypto media outlet to reach out to Chen under the pretense of conducting an interview.

This personal loss comes in the wake of a larger security breach at Bitget, where approximately $387.5 million was stolen from the exchange's wallets. Unlike Chen's individual loss, which is not covered by Bitget's User Protection Fund, the exchange's breach involved attackers using spoofed transaction data to redirect funds without relying on compromised private keys.

Chen has drawn parallels between her experience and previous tactics employed by the Lazarus Group, noting that the group has targeted other major exchanges in similar ways. This incident underscores a significant vulnerability in the cryptocurrency industry, where human-layer attacks are often overlooked in favor of focusing on infrastructure security. Chen's public acknowledgment of her loss is notable, as such disclosures are rare among executives in the sector.

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Source: KLEA News