I received an email today which after reading, I concluded that this is the latest in the quest by scammers to steal private keys of users who are deceived into downloading a wallet that is clearly designed to harvest private keys or worse.
Here is the email:
“Stellar is on the eve of the launch of the release of a new version of its client, including minor user interface changes, enhanced privacy options and other improvements.
Announces the launch of a small AirDrop, for its users, this project of the company should increase interest and show new opportunities for the client. And also will share improved security features and scalability and please instant transactions and low fees for them.
The project will start on 10.05.2019 at 14:00 local time. Each participant who wants to take part in the project and receive a reward will have to go through several stages of registration and at the end pick up his token.
Detailed conditions you can find on the official website of the company:
https://docs.google.com/forms/+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It should be noted that Stellar has launched a project that is different from other companies and has no competitors in its market.
Thank you for your attention,
Crypto news.”
Free Yahoo Email
What caught my attention was that the sender email is news_holo@yahoo.com while they’re registered with Google as Holo News but signed off with another name “Crypto News”.
It is obvious that the email could not have originated from the Stellar team since they wouldn’t use a free service such as Yahoomail, but I’m aware that many recipients may not take cognizance of this fact.
No Imminent Stellar Airdrop
A search on the Stellar website and reputable news portals shows that there is no imminent release of a new client by Stellar. The fact that the email also refers to the platform as a company should raise the red flag with experienced users.
Being aware that there are many bounty hunters and uninformed people who may believe this airdrop is genuine, we investigated their intention.
On the Google form link in the email, the project was titled, “Stellar Official AirDrop “Round 2” Distribution 200 XLM Coins!”
Incoherent Information
A large section of the page was dedicated in information about the Stellar network unrelated to an airdrop probably in a bid to make the scammers seem like experts on the Stellar project. It also laid emphasis on integration and later stated that the airdrop is for those that would download a new wallet.
According to the form,
“This AirDrop is intended only for those participants who use our desktop program created by the best developers of our project: each participant creating a star wallet will receive 130 XLM to support our network.”
Although that seems like poor communication skills, it creates the impression that the participant would be the one donating 130 XLM to the scammers.
Phishing Scam
The participants are then directed to links where they could download the wallet and also asked to submit the public keys for payment.
Aside the grammatical errors, incoherent message and inconsistencies in the form, it is clear that the intention is to phish for private keys of those that download this fake wallet. The page also vacillates from 130 XLM to 200 XLM as the volume of coins each participant would receive.
They direct users to subscribe to the official Stellar Twitter page in the quest to create impression of legitimacy. The network’s Twitter page shows that there is no airdrop scheduled for May 10, 2019 as written in the email.
