Key Takeaways
- The fake token managed to infiltrate nearly 400,000 Aptos wallets
- The incident led to the temporary suspension of Aptos deposits and withdrawals on September 24th.
Upbit, South Korea’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, recently faced a significant disruption in its services after encountering a fraudulent token. The incident led to the temporary suspension of Aptos (APT) deposits and withdrawals on September 24th. However, the exchange has since resolved the issue and resumed normal operations.
The disruption began when Upbit detected what it described as an “abnormal deposit attempt.” This prompted an immediate investigation into its wallet system to identify the source of the problem. The situation soon unraveled, revealing the presence of a newly created counterfeit APT token known as “ClaimAPTGift.com.”
This fake token, seemingly part of a typical token airdrop scam, managed to infiltrate nearly 400,000 Aptos wallets shortly after its launch on September 21st. Such scams involve distributing tokens to unsuspecting users, often with links leading to phishing websites.
The critical flaw in this case was Upbit’s failure to thoroughly verify the source code of these suspicious tokens. As a result, the exchange mistakenly recognized the counterfeit tokens as genuine Aptos tokens. Consequently, users who sold these fake APT tokens were able to exploit the situation and walk away with ill-gotten gains.
Upbit’s customer center, realizing the extent of the issue, promptly initiated refund requests from users who had unknowingly sold the fake APT tokens. This action aimed to rectify the damage caused by the incident and restore confidence in the platform.
The exchange’s response was swift and efficient. By September 24th, 11:00 PM local time, Upbit had completed its wallet inspection and confirmed the resumption of Aptos deposits and withdrawals. In a reassuring statement, Upbit stated, “The action against the abnormal deposit attempt has been completed, and there is no problem with your Aptos transaction.”
However, the exchange also issued a caution to its users. While services had been restored, Upbit warned that there might still be delays in processing deposits and withdrawals. Additionally, there could be temporary price fluctuations in APT tokens when compared to other exchanges due to the recent disruption.
