Fraud Losses in the Cryptocurrency Space Hit $370 Million in January, Reaching a Nearly 11-Month High

BlockBeats News, February 22, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams warned that fake Uniswap search engine ads continue to appear, with users having lost all their high-value crypto assets as a result. Scammers purchase ads with keywords like "Uniswap" to display fake websites at the top of search results. These websites closely mimic the official site, and once users connect their wallets and authorize transactions, the funds are immediately stolen. This type of attack relies on user signature authorization rather than protocol-level vulnerabilities.

One user of X platform, "Ika," reported losing hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of crypto wallet assets after clicking on a fake link in the search results. Screenshots shared by the user show the deceptive link at the top of the search results, adding to its misleading nature. A similar incident occurred in October 2024 when scammers replicated the Uniswap website interface and used subtle button changes to trick users into connecting their wallets.

Security firm CertiK's data shows that in January 2026, the crypto industry lost about $370.3 million due to exploitation and scams, marking nearly an 11-month high and almost four times the losses in January 2025. A single social engineering attack resulted in losses of about $284 million. January saw a total of 40 related security incidents.

Analysis indicates that current crypto asset losses stem more from phishing links, deceptive ads, social engineering attacks, and other user-facing risks rather than underlying smart contract vulnerabilities. As the DeFi ecosystem expands, brand impersonation and interface fraud are becoming significant threats to user trust.