Weekly Crypto and Web3 Safety Digest - CW47
The essential crypto safety briefing — what actually mattered this week.
This 5-minute briefing distills hundreds of public user reports, OSINT findings, and incident alerts into the 9 real threats that actually caused losses this week.
No hype — just verified case evidence and actionable lessons.
If you hold crypto or are a Web3 user, these are the pitfalls you must learn to recognize in advance.
We sift through hundreds of community reports, OSINT feeds, and user incidents so you only see the highest-signal threats — in minutes, not hours.
This Week’s Most Important Crypto & Web3 Threats and How to Avoid Them
Crypto and Web3 users continue to lose far more money to social engineering, user mistakes, fake tools, and market-structure traps than to advanced hacks.
CW47 was no exception.
As you read through this week’s 9 key threat patterns, ask yourself:
⚠️ Would you have recognized these dangers in time?
Each threat is linked to its original public source so you can see what real users experienced.
Even if this week doesn’t reveal any weak spots, make it a habit to check in again next week — staying safe in crypto and Web3 is an ongoing practice, not a one-time setup, and this quick 5-minute read makes it easy to stay ahead.
What follows is a curated extract of the most relevant threats observed this week.
1. Social Engineering Caused the Most Catastrophic Losses
Attackers used multi-stage manipulation, fake support calls, romance grooming, and “VIP signals” to extract deposits and identities.
⭐ Flagship Case (40,000 AUD stolen):
Scammers impersonated Ledger + Crypto.com support, walked the victim through “security steps,” and led them to enter their seed phrase into a fake site.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ledgerwallet/comments/1p1v4oe/phishing_scam_40k_gone/
Lesson:
If someone calls you claiming to be support or asks for secrecy, urgency, or verification deposits, stop immediately.
⚠️ Ask yourself:
If real-looking links and a calm “support agent” guided you through security steps…
ould you stop, or comply?
2. Malicious Extensions & Tooling Attacks Are Exploding
Fake extensions, fake marketplaces, and spoofed support links were the most dangerous non-social exploits this week.
⭐ Flagship Case (Malicious Chrome extension ranked #4):
“Safery: Ethereum Wallet” harvested seed phrases and executed background drains.
https://www.reddit.com/r/ethtrader/comments/1owr4xp/a_malicious_safery_ethereum_wallet_extension/
https://x.com/web3_antivirus/status/1989253022614954382?s=20
More tooling threats:
· Fake NFT buyer sites (axcreed, metaartistry.com)
· Fake Ledger help URLs (helpwithledger[dot]com)
· Address poisoning
· Fake “anti-drain” wallet tools requesting seed phrases
Lesson:
Assume every extension or support link is malicious until you verify it.
⚠️ Ask yourself:
If an extension — even a top-ranked one — asked for your seed phrase “to sync,”
Would you instantly recognize the threat?
3. Fake Tokens & Swap Traps Surged
Scammers exploited UI trust, ticker similarity, and unverified contracts.
⭐ Flagship Case (Fake “XMR” token in Phantom):
User swapped SOL → what looked like Monero (“XMR”) but was actually a worthless copy token.
https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoScams/comments/1owsowf/got_scammed_through_phantom_wallet_swap/
Other cases:
· USDT.C fake stablecoin showing fake USD values
· Malicious swap-contract approvals leading to full wallet drains
· Auto-suggested tokens in wallets with no validation
Lesson:
Token names can be faked. Contract addresses cannot.
⚠️ Ask yourself:
When you see a familiar ticker, do you check the contract address — or trust the UI?
4. User Errors Now Cause More Loss Than Hacks
Kerberus data confirms: over $600M lost this year due to user mistakes alone.
⭐ Kerberus Human-Error Report:
https://kerberus.com/articles/human-factor-real-time-protection-report/
CW47 examples:
· Ledger reset → no seed → permanent loss
· Lost 2FA device → locked out of $100k+
· Wrong-chain transfers
· No test transactions
Lesson:
Crypto punishes operational mistakes with no fallback.
Your recovery setup matters more than your wallet choice.
⚠️ Ask yourself:
If your device died today, could you restore your wallet in minutes?
5. Liquidity Traps Caused Multimillion-Dollar Losses
Not all losses came from scams — some came from market structure.
⭐ Flagship Case (6M ADA → $847k due to slippage):
User swapped 14.4M ADA into a thin USDA pool, destroying most of the value.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/cardano-holders-loses-6-million-from-stablecoin-swap
Other hazards:
· Fake stablecoins with no liquidity
· Vaults routing assets to unstable underlying pools
· Arbitrage “mentors” pushing malicious approvals
Lesson:
Large trades require liquidity checks, slippage limits, and test swaps.
⚠️ Ask yourself:
Before swapping a large amount, do you check pool depth, or trust the interface?
6. Fake Exchanges & High-Yield Platforms Remain Ubiquitous
All follow identical mechanics:
Deposit → fake profits → blocked withdrawals → “fees” → disappearance.
Representative Cases:
· Spire (10× returns, then exit scam):
https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoScams/comments/1ozicgm/spire_crypto_scam/
· Bluzor Pro blocking withdrawals
· ZRZ Wallet “unlock” scam
· Mining sites demanding “verification payments”
· KunoCreative “job training” deposits
· Fake NFT buyers demanding wallet signatures
Lesson:
One blocked withdrawal = the scam’s final stage.
⚠️ Ask yourself:
If a platform demanded a “verification fee” to unlock your funds,
Would you immediately walk away?
Final Takeaway
Crypto threats this week weren’t about code vulnerabilities —
They were about emotional pressure, UI trust, and operational mistakes.
Security in Web3 depends less on tools…
and more on habit, awareness, and skepticism.
If you find this useful, check next week’s digest — crypto safety is a weekly practice.
Read the complete CW47 2025 report on CryptoSafetyFirst
https://cryptosafetyfirst.com/crypto-and-web3-safety-digest-cw47-2025/
