In an email phishing campaign directed at MetaMask crypto wallet customers, scammers claim that the recipients have been awarded a $250 virtual card bonus. The emails carry distinctive MetaMask branding and are sent from ‘Meta Drop’, with a subject line that reads: ‘You’ve Won a $250 Virtual Card Bonus!’
To claim the bonus, the email features a prominent ‘Claim Now’ button. See an example of the email below.
After clicking on the ‘Claim Now’ button, victims are taken to a replica MetaMask landing page that instructs you to ‘Connect your wallet and sign up now to receive a $250 welcome bonus!’ Clicking the blue ‘Connect Your Wallet’ or ‘Sign In’ buttons will betray your account credentials to the cybercriminals behind the scam.
The process requests that users select their wallet, presenting a list of vendors/ applications to choose from.
In the final step, the victim is prompted to scan a QR code. Once scanned, it will attempt to connect their crypto wallet to a web service. This will allow the service to see the user’s crypto wallet details (address, balance, previous activity,) and allow the site to initiate transactions on the users behalf. Once this is confirmed, the attacker may be able to exfiltrate funds from the user using this authorisation.
Like any financial services or banking applications, crypto wallet providers are lucrative targets for scammers.
MetaMask gives users the following advice:
“MetaMask will never send you unsolicited emails.
MetaMask will not and cannot initiate email correspondence with you.
We hold no personal identifying information such as names, email addresses, or otherwise — we don't collect these at any point whilst you're creating your wallet. This means we have no means of contacting you directly unless you specifically request it. And even then, there are only a few specific ways you can do this.
If you believe you've received a scam email, contact us via the "Start a Conversation" button on the homepage of this site.
How to recognize legitimate MetaMask emails:
There are only two types of emails MetaMask could ever send you:
Correspondence about a Support ticket you opened, from support(at)consensys(dot)io.
Notifications from the Community page via notifications(at)metamask(dot)discoursemail(dot)com."
MailGuard advises all recipients of this email to delete it immediately without clicking on any links. Providing your personal details can result in your sensitive information being used for criminal activity and may have a severe negative impact on your business and its financial well-being.
MailGuard urges users not to click links or open attachments within emails that:
- Are not addressed to you by name.
- Appear to be from a legitimate company but use poor English or omits personal details that a legitimate sender would include.
- Are from businesses that you were not expecting to hear from, and/or
- Take you to a landing page or website that is not the legitimate URL of the company the email is purporting to be sent from.
Many businesses turn to MailGuard after an incident or a near miss, often as a result of an email similar to the one shown above. If unwanted emails are a problem for your business, don’t wait until it’s too late.
Reach out to our team for a confidential discussion by emailing expert@mailguard.com.au or calling 1300 30 44 30.
One email is all that it takes
All that it takes to devastate your business is a cleverly worded email message that can steal sensitive user credentials or disrupt your business operations. If scammers can trick one person in your company into clicking on a malicious link or attachment, they can gain access to your data or inflict damage on your business.
For a few dollars per staff member per month, you can protect your business with MailGuard's predictive and advanced email security. Talk to a solution consultant at MailGuard today about securing your company's inboxes.
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