This might be one of the smartest crypto scams I’ve seen in a while
Someone basically created a fake blockchain and got real users to bridge money into it
Here’s what happened:
- GIWA is a legitimate Ethereum L2 connected to Upbit
There was only one problem, GIWA mainnet had NOT launched yet
Scammers knew people were waiting for it and built an entire fake environment around that expectation
They created a fake EVM chain, gave it GIWA’s legitimate Chain ID: 9134
set up an RPC and apparently created a fraudulent bridge that allowed users to send real assets into the fake network
So you could add a new network to your wallet, the RPC responds correctly, your wallet shows 9134, transactions work and everything looks real
Except Chain IDs aren’t proof of authenticity
The scammers basically copied GIWA’s license plate and built another car behind it
And real assets leave Ethereum or whatever legitimate source chain they’re using
and enter infrastructure controlled by whoever built the fraudulent bridge
$2M were lost through this scam apparently