Phishing scams targeting crypto are on the rise. Crypto thieves reportedly stole $370 million in January, making it the worst month for losses in almost a year. Scams now do more damage than smart contract hacks, and regular users pay the price.
The data fits a bigger pattern. Each bull cycle pulls in new users, and scammers follow right behind. More money flows in. More traps appear.
We used to think only our grandparents would fall for those classic “you’ve won a prize” phishing emails, but the numbers make it painfully clear: these attacks have gotten way smarter, more personalized, and harder to spot, even for people who consider themselves careful.
No matter how tech-savvy you think you are, never assume you’re “too safe” to be the next target.
Most crypto "hacks" in 2025 weren't hacks at all.
They were:
– Phishing (49% of Q2 losses)
– Compromised private keys (69% of H1 value lost)
– Social engineering
– Supply chain attacksThe Bybit "hack"? An employee signed a malicious transaction.
The code was fine. The humans… pic.twitter.com/NcbnnIK0qv
— LegalSifter (@legalsifter_AI) January 26, 2026
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CertiK Tracks 40 Incidents, Driven by One Massive Phishing Scam
Blockchain security firm CertiK reported 40 confirmed phishing scams and exploit incidents throughout January. Phishing and related social engineering attacks dominated, draining approximately $311.3 million: the overwhelming majority of the month’s total.
A single, high-profile social engineering scam accounted for about $284 million (roughly 77% of all losses). On January 16, an attacker impersonated official Trezor customer support, tricking the victim into revealing their hardware wallet’s recovery seed phrase. This led to the theft of 1,459 BTC and 2.05 million LTC. The incident highlights how even experienced users with “secure” hardware can fall victim when manipulated into compromising their own security.
Overall, January’s losses jumped 214% from December’s $117.8 million and rose more than 277% (nearly quadrupled) from January 2025’s $98 million figure.
Many losses start with leaked wallet data or fake support messages, like the incidents described in our guide to crypto wallet data leaks.
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Phishing vs. Hacks: Scams Now Outpace Technical Crypto Exploits
Not all crypto thefts are equal. Smart contract hacks target vulnerabilities in DeFi protocols and other on-chain code, while scams exploit human psychology through direct deception.
CertiK (and corroborating data from PeckShield) logged 16 hacks in January, totaling $86.01 million — a slight 1.42% decrease from January 2025 but up 13.25% from December. This contrasts with the explosion in user-targeted scams.
Many scams begin with leaked wallet data, fake support tickets, malicious DMs, or fraudulent websites/emails promising aid or rewards. Phishing remains the top vector, often involving “ice phishing” (tricking users into approving malicious transactions) or classic seed phrase/social engineering ploys.
While scams dominated January, DeFi exploits still caused real damage. Attackers stole about $28.9 million from Step Finance after compromising treasury wallets. That hit users’ tracking portfolios on Solana.
Another attack drained $26.4 million from Truebit after a smart contract flaw allowed free token minting. The token price collapsed fast. This is the risk side of open financial code, similar to other major crypto network hacks.
For context, the worst year ever was 2022, when thieves stole $3.7 billion. January shows how fast things can accelerate again.
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