In just days apart, Filipino trader James Afante lost approximately ₱7.6 million ($130,000) in cryptocurrency due to a Telegram exploit but managed to repurchase the lost assets with his own funds.
What’s the significance: This incident emphasizes the continuous risks cryptocurrency traders encounter, especially with vulnerabilities exploited through communication platforms like Telegram.
Key details:
- In an X thread, Afante shared that his Phantom wallet was compromised on January 11, leading to the loss of 3 million $KIKI, valued at around ₱7.6 million at the time, constituting 95% of his portfolio.
- The breach was noticed by a community member who flagged unusual activity; Afante confirmed the wallet address was his.
- He noted that the attacker swapped the stolen $KIKI to $SOL and spreadly sent the assets across multiple wallets to evade tracking.
- Afante suspected Telegram Desktop’s auto-download feature may have introduced malware, though the exact method remains unclear.
Key Quote:
“What damage did it cause? Because of the huge selling pressure of my wallet, the price of $KIKI dipped 5% and I am truly sorry for the paper loss I caused because of this. I will still find ways to buy back by utilizing other resources I have because I want to show my community that I am with them. I would like to also take this opportunity to thank my community for staying with me despite what happened last night. It was unfortunate but I will come back stronger.”
James Afante, Crypto Influencer
Moreover: On January 12 Icesteam Jimenez of the Innovative Movement of the Philippine Association of Crypto Traders (IMPACT) shared the thread on his Facebook post noting that he also experienced the same exploit and stressed that a Ledger is a must-have for security.
- Accordingly: In Jimenez’s post at around past midnight of January 13, Afante mentioned that he had repurchased his lost assets using his own money.
What is $KIKI: The KIKICat project merges meme culture, AI, and digital IP on the Solana blockchain, turning the popular KIKI Giphy into an AI-driven meme coin.
- $KIKI is valued at ₱2.69 and has increased by 253.1% in the past month, according to the data from CoinGecko, as of January 22, 2025.
Between the Lines: The exploit that happened to Afante could have been caused by a sweeper bot.
- What is a sweeper bot? These are automated scripts used on blockchain addresses to perform outgoing transactions, typically for legitimate purposes but often exploited by hackers to steal assets.
- These bots take advantage of the blockchain’s public transaction data, detecting pending transactions and quickly moving assets from the target address before the transaction is completed.
The Bottom Line: This exploit highlights the ongoing risks in the cryptocurrency world, emphasizing the importance of secure practices, such as using hardware wallets and being aware of vulnerabilities on communication platforms.
Worth reading: Last year, it can be remembered that BitPinas reported how a Filipino investor lost over ₱40 million in a crypto sweeper bot exploit on Telegram, where hackers accessed his wallets after he unknowingly shared a media file through the platform.
This article is published on BitPinas: Pinoy Trader Loses ₱7.6 Million in TG Exploit, Buys Back Assets
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