Scammers have taken a keen interest in the impending “ARB” airdrop by Ethereum layer-two scaling solution, Arbitrum, as numerous phishing scams have surfaced to dupe cryptocurrency users. Fortunately, the crypto community has raised the alarm about the spread of such fraudulent platforms.
Scammers Set Up Fake Arbitrum Airdrop Accounts And Websites
The Arbitrum Foundation disclosed in a recent post that it would give 10 billion governance tokens through an airdrop initiative on March 23rd. The tokens will enable holders to participate in voting on code modifications.
Sadly, the development has given rise to multiple attempts by scammers to establish counterfeit token airdrops with the intent of siphoning off funds from unsuspecting victims before the event. On Monday, Redefine, a blockchain security firm, reported uncovering a website that imitated a legitimate Arbitrum airdrop website.
The website prompts users to grant the scammers access to their assets, likely leading to them depleting their wallets. Also, CertiK, a blockchain security firm, identified a fraudulent Arbitrum account on Twitter called “arbitrum_launch,” promoting a token airdrop.
The firm has cautioned users against engaging with such accounts. In a separate development, a Reddit user with the handle u/CryptoMaximalist recently shared a thread sounding an alarm that “scammers are looking to take advantage of the intricacy of cryptocurrency and individuals who are eager for free funds.”
u/CryptoMaximalist stated that they discovered counterfeit Arbitrum Twitter accounts linked to bogus Arbitrum websites. The Reddit account urged others to scrutinize the profile and history of a user and verify if they are sharing links excessively across multiple subreddits before clicking on such links.
Arbitrum Foundation Used A Points System For The Airdrop
Furthermore, Scam Sniffer, a Web3 anti-scam tool, notified its Twitter followers last week that it had identified over 273 phishing sites associated with Arbitrum since the announcement of the token Airdrop. The number is projected to increase ahead of the official Airdrop slated for March 23rd.
Meanwhile, the Arbitrum Foundation utilized a points-based approach to ascertain eligibility for claiming tokens in the Airdrop. The foundation also used the approach to determine the corresponding quantity of tokens that users could claim.
Some of the actions users had to undertake to qualify for the Airdrop included completing a minimum of four transactions or interacting with a minimum of four smart contracts. In addition, they had to bridge funds into the Arbitrum One chain and deposit liquidity worth at least $50,000 into Arbitrum.
Furthermore, Nansen, a blockchain analytics platform, collaborated with Arbitrum in devising the eligibility criteria. In a tweet last week, Nansen explained that positive (to encourage) or negative (to discourage) points were earned through organic activity.
The firm disclosed that out of over 2.3 million wallets bridged on the Arbitrum One chain before February 6th, only 625,143 met the requirements to be eligible for the Airdrop.
“The total number of points accumulated determined the quantity of tokens a wallet received in the airdrop,” Nansen added.