A victim of a $24 million phishing attack has reclaimed $9.3 million in DAI after the scammer voluntarily returned the stolen funds. The theft involved 9,579 Lido Staked Ether (stETH) and 4,850 Rocket Pool (rETH) tokens in late 2023.
The attacker exploited an “Increase Allowance” transaction, a common phishing tactic. Ten months later, the attacker expressed a desire to return the funds via an on-chain message, sending back $9.3 million in two transactions.
Using Railgun, a privacy protocol, the attacker obscured the funds before returning them, which is uncommon. The returned amount represents 38.84% of the stolen funds.
Phishing scams remain a significant threat, with $290 million lost in 2023 alone. This incident underscores the potential for partial fund recovery, even in severe breaches, highlighting the importance of continued vigilance and advanced anti-scam measures in the crypto sector.
