Follower of Crypto Influencer ZachXBT Scammed by Impersonated a16z Member

cryptonews.com:

In a recent and highly sophisticated scam, a follower of the renowned crypto influencer ZachXBT was targeted by a fraudulent account posing as a member of the prestigious venture capital firm a16z (Andreessen Horowitz). The victim, unfortunately, lost a staggering $ 245,000 in this fraudulent act.

The scam involved social engineering techniques, in which the attacker leveraged outdated information on the a16z website to impersonate a team member and trick the victim into downloading malware. This incident also sheds light on a new type of scam employed by threat actors, which, although known as a common scam, took a different approach.

1/ Here is an overview of one of the better executed scams I have seen in recent times so I figured I would share with the community as a cautionary tale.

A few weeks ago I received a DM from a follower who lost $245K after accidentally downloading malware onto their computer. pic.twitter.com/gVQEO52XOU

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) June 12, 2024

C rypto influencer ZachXBT recently exposed a meticulously executed scam that resulted in a follower losing $245,000. The scam began with a direct message from an account impersonating Peter Lauten of a16z, aiming to discuss a potential podcast partnership.

“A few weeks ago I received a DM from a follower who lost $245K after accidentally downloading malware onto their computer,” said ZachXBT.

The attacker exploited the fact that the real Peter Lauten had changed his X (formerly Twitter) username from ‘peter_lauten’ to ‘Lauten.’ The old username was still linked on the a16z website and tagged in posts by the a16z X account.

6/ Shortly after downloading, the victim’s crypto assets were transferred out from their wallets.

Funds were then transferred