Is the World Cup becoming a scam "harvesting ground"? On-chain funding cross-chain money laundering paths exposed ⚠️
According to TRM Labs, three active crypto scam projects targeting World Cup fans have been identified, including two fake ticketing sites and one bogus betting site. These platforms were set up well in advance of the event, ready to cash in on the traffic explosion. 📊
More critically, these scams aren't just last-minute schemes; they are classic examples of the "infrastructure pre-positioning" model: build the websites and payment channels first, then wait for the demand surge from the event to reap the rewards.
TRM's further tracing of the funds revealed that in the ticket scam, user funds entered through the Polygon network and were quickly transferred to the Tron chain; meanwhile, the betting scam funds went directly into the deposit addresses of custodial exchanges, facilitating rapid withdrawals and splits. 👀
Additionally, these funding paths are not isolated; TRM has linked related addresses to multiple reports on Chainabuse, showcasing the cross-platform collaborative nature of the scam network.
What's even more alarming is that over $1.9 billion in scam funds have been moved through a similar "cross-chain bridge + multi-network circulation" method.
Essentially, these attacks are no longer single-point scams, but rather a systematic transport of on-chain capital. ⚖️
During the window period where events, trends, and traffic overlap,
scamming is turning into a "traffic arbitrage industry." 🔥
According to TRM Labs, three active crypto scam projects targeting World Cup fans have been identified, including two fake ticketing sites and one bogus betting site. These platforms were set up well in advance of the event, ready to cash in on the traffic explosion. 📊
More critically, these scams aren't just last-minute schemes; they are classic examples of the "infrastructure pre-positioning" model: build the websites and payment channels first, then wait for the demand surge from the event to reap the rewards.
TRM's further tracing of the funds revealed that in the ticket scam, user funds entered through the Polygon network and were quickly transferred to the Tron chain; meanwhile, the betting scam funds went directly into the deposit addresses of custodial exchanges, facilitating rapid withdrawals and splits. 👀
Additionally, these funding paths are not isolated; TRM has linked related addresses to multiple reports on Chainabuse, showcasing the cross-platform collaborative nature of the scam network.
What's even more alarming is that over $1.9 billion in scam funds have been moved through a similar "cross-chain bridge + multi-network circulation" method.
Essentially, these attacks are no longer single-point scams, but rather a systematic transport of on-chain capital. ⚖️
During the window period where events, trends, and traffic overlap,
scamming is turning into a "traffic arbitrage industry." 🔥