January crypto fraud losses reach $370 million, the highest in nearly 11 months

Deep Tide TechFlow News, February 22 — Uniswap founder Hayden Adams warns that impersonation search engine ads for Uniswap continue to appear, causing some users to lose all their high-value crypto assets. Scammers purchase keywords like “Uniswap” to top search results, displaying fake websites that closely resemble the official site. Once users connect their wallets and authorize transactions, funds can be immediately transferred out. This type of attack relies on user signature authorization rather than protocol-level vulnerabilities.

A user on X platform, “Ika,” stated that after clicking on a fake link in the search results, they lost crypto assets worth tens of thousands of dollars. Their disclosed screenshot shows the fake link positioned at the top of search results, making it highly deceptive. Similar incidents occurred in October 2024, where scammers replicated the Uniswap website interface and used subtle button modifications to trick users into connecting their wallets.

Data from security firm CertiK shows that in January 2026, the crypto industry suffered approximately $370.3 million in losses due to exploits and scams, the highest in nearly 11 months and nearly four times the amount in January 2025. A single social engineering attack caused losses of about $284 million. In January, 40 related security incidents were recorded.

Analysis indicates that current crypto asset losses are mainly due to user-level risks such as phishing links, fake ads, and social engineering attacks, rather than underlying smart contract vulnerabilities. As the DeFi ecosystem expands, brand impersonation and interface fraud are becoming significant hidden threats affecting user trust.