BitForex's Exit Scam Leads to $56.5 Million in Financial Losses.

Summary

Since February 23, 2024, BitForex, a crypto exchange operational since 2017, ceased processing withdrawals amidst unexplained outflows of about $56.5M worth of crypto from its hot wallets. The absence of communication from BitForex, coupled with the recent departure of its CEO Jason Luo, has raised concerns over a potential inside job or exit scam.

Attackers

The identity of the scammers is unknown, but the main suspect is the CEO of the exchange, Jason Luo. The nature of the outflows and a significant delay in response from BitForex, suggests this may not be a straightforward hack. Initial transactions, such as the test transaction of 0.01 $ETH, followed by 58-hour inactivity, indicate a controlled extraction of funds rather than a grab-and-run attack.

The following addresses are associated with the scam:

• Ethereum Wallet:

  • 0xdcacd7eb6692b816b6957f8898c1c4b63d1fc01f

• Tron Wallet:

  • TQcnqaU4NDTR86eA4FZneeKfJMiQi7i76o

• Bitcoin Wallet:

  • 3DbbF7yxCR7ni94ANrRkfV12rJoxrmo1o2

Losses

The total loss from the BitForex scam amounted to approximately $56.5 million, distributed across the following networks:

• Ethereum:
  • 471,414 TRB (54,200,000 USD)
  • 148 ETH (444,000 USD)
  • 258,700 USDC
  • 40,771 USDT
• Tron
  • 657,698 USDT
  • 44,000 TRX (6072 USD)
• Bitcoin
  • 5.7 BTC (290,000 USD)

Timeline

• January 31, 2024, 02:07 PM UTC: Exchange CEO Jason Luo steps down.
• February 21, 2024, 08:16 AM UTC: The first malicious transaction occurred.
• February 23, 2024: The exchange website was closed.
• February 26, 2024: 0xScope published an analysis of the incident.
• March 4, 2024: Hong Kong’s regulator for securities and futures markets has warned the public about BitForex for suspected fraud.