Monkey Drainer-linked scammers possibly exposed after an on-chain quarrel

Monkey Drainer-linked scammers possibly exposed after an on-chain quarrel

Jan 29, 2023

By Jesse Coghlan

The scammer referred to their pseudonym during a blockchain message argument which may have revealed their actual identity, according to CertiK.

Blockchain security firm CertiK believes to have found the real identity of at least one scammer allegedly linked tothe “Monkey Drainer” phishing scam.

Monkey Drainer is the pseudonym for a phishing scammer(s) that uses smart contracts to steal NFTs through a process known as "ice phishing."

The individual or persons behind the phishing scam have stolen millions worth of Ether (ETH) via malicious copycat nonfungible token (NFT) minting websites to date.

In a Jan. 27 blog, CertiK said it found on-chain messages between two scammers involved in a recent $4.3 million Porsche NFT phishing scam and was able to link one of them to a Telegram account involved in selling the Monkey Drainer-style phishing kit.

One message revealed a person referring to themself as “Zentoh” and referred to the person who stole the funds as “Kai.”

Zentoh was seemingly upset at Kai for not sending over a slice of the stolen funds. The message from Zentoh directs Kai to deposit the ill-gotten gains “at our address.”

CertiK deduced the joint wallet was the address that received the $4.3 million in stolen crypto. The firm added there is a “direct link” between the joint wallet and “some of the most prominent Monkey Drainer scammer wallets.”