2025-06-02
Security, Blockchain, Audit, COR3 Innovations
How COR3 Innovations Stopped a 25 Million USDT Crypto Scam
When a prominent Web 2 firm teamed up with a Web 3 partner to transfer 25 million USDT, both sides were told by a hired third-party consultant to “verify” their wallets on a new platform. They believed this site would confirm authenticity, but in reality, it was a cleverly disguised wallet-drainer, designed to harvest private keys and walk away with the entire sum. Thanks to COR3 Innovations, the process was halted before a single wallet connection could occur.
The Setup: A Trusted Recommendation That Went Wrong
Fresh Wallets, Maximum Caution: Both Sender and Receiver created brand-new, never-used wallets and secured their keys offline, following best practices.
Third-Party “Verification” Advice: A consultant recommended a new web portal, claiming it would confirm each party’s wallet ownership and prevent fraud. Because the advice came from a trusted advisor, neither side questioned it.
Hidden Scam: Though the UI looked professional, the site was hosted on a secondary platform domain (e.g., something.onrender.com) rather than a legitimate custom domain, relied on insecure custom wallet-connection scripts, and didn’t reference any audited smart contract. It was engineered to grab private keys the moment anyone tried to connect.
The Attacker’s Playbook
Dual Connection Trap:
Both Sender and Receiver, acting on the third party’s advice, connected their brand-new wallets.
Each “approval” request went straight to the scammer, granting them full control.
Fund Drain & Frame-Up:
Once connected, the attacker planned to move 25 million USDT from the Sender’s wallet to a private address.
Then, they intended to “reclaim” those same 25 million USDT from the Receiver, pinning the blame on the Receiver as either a thief or a “hacked” victim.
With both legitimate parties pointing fingers and the consultant nowhere to be found, the scammer would vanish with the entire fund and leave behind a costly legal mess.
COR3 Innovations Steps In: Rapid Audit, Zero Loss
Rapid Audit the Moment We Were Engaged:
Secondary Hosting Domain: We noticed immediately that the site was on *.onrender.com rather than a known, trusted domain, despite displaying a professional interface.
Insecure Wallet-Connection Code: The platform’s scripts skipped checksum validation and offered no hardware-wallet (Ledger/Trezor) support.
No On-Chain Escrow Contract: There was no smart contract address to hold funds; everything ran through opaque API calls.
Stopping the Process Before Any Funds Moved:
Alerted the Client & Consultant: We sent a concise report to both the investment firms and the consultant, highlighting that proceeding would mean instant theft of 25 million USDT.
Canceled All Connections: Because the Sender hadn’t yet connected their wallet, we redirected them to deploy their USDT into a verified, hardware-wallet-protected multisignature address instead.
Protected Reputation & Assets: With zero on-chain exposure, no funds were at risk, and neither party faced litigation or reputational damage.
Outcome:
Zero Funds Lost: The attacker never gained control of a single USDT.
No Lawsuit: By halting the transaction, both sides avoided a protracted legal battle.
Preserved Reputation: Neither firm nor the consultant suffered brand damage or regulatory scrutiny.
Lessons Learned & Best Practices
Always Verify Domains & SSL/TLS, Even If Recommended:
Never assume a third-party suggestion is safe; verify that the URL is a genuine custom domain. Anyone can spin up a vendor-hosted subdomain (e.g., something.onrender.com).Demand Hardware-Wallet Confirmation for Large Transfers:
Significant transactions (six- or seven-figure sums) should always require an external, physical signature. Browser-only approvals are inherently risky.Confirm Audited Smart Contracts On-Chain:
Legitimate escrow or verification services publish their contract address publicly; if no contract exists on-chain, walk away.Engage Experts Before Funds Move:
A swift security audit can uncover hidden traps, in this case, saving 25 million USDT and avoiding multimillion-dollar liability.
Why COR3 Innovations?
At COR3 Innovations, we specialize in securing high-value Web 3 transactions for Web 2 firms. Our services include:
Smart Contract Audits: Manual code reviews and automated vulnerability scans.
Penetration Testing: Simulating real-world attacks on wallet-connection flows.
Domain & SSL/TLS Validation: Ensuring any platform you use is genuine.
Comprehensive Due Diligence: Covering KYC/AML compliance and UX/UI red flags.
Don’t risk losing anything, or your reputation, on an unvetted platform, even if it’s recommended by a consultant.
Details have been anonymized to protect client confidentiality.
When a prominent Web 2 firm teamed up with a Web 3 partner to transfer 25 million USDT, both sides were told by a hired third-party consultant to “verify” their wallets on a new platform. They believed this site would confirm authenticity, but in reality, it was a cleverly disguised wallet-drainer, designed to harvest private keys and walk away with the entire sum. Thanks to COR3 Innovations, the process was halted before a single wallet connection could occur.
The Setup: A Trusted Recommendation That Went Wrong
Fresh Wallets, Maximum Caution: Both Sender and Receiver created brand-new, never-used wallets and secured their keys offline, following best practices.
Third-Party “Verification” Advice: A consultant recommended a new web portal, claiming it would confirm each party’s wallet ownership and prevent fraud. Because the advice came from a trusted advisor, neither side questioned it.
Hidden Scam: Though the UI looked professional, the site was hosted on a secondary platform domain (e.g., something.onrender.com) rather than a legitimate custom domain, relied on insecure custom wallet-connection scripts, and didn’t reference any audited smart contract. It was engineered to grab private keys the moment anyone tried to connect.
The Attacker’s Playbook
Dual Connection Trap:
Both Sender and Receiver, acting on the third party’s advice, connected their brand-new wallets.
Each “approval” request went straight to the scammer, granting them full control.
Fund Drain & Frame-Up:
Once connected, the attacker planned to move 25 million USDT from the Sender’s wallet to a private address.
Then, they intended to “reclaim” those same 25 million USDT from the Receiver, pinning the blame on the Receiver as either a thief or a “hacked” victim.
With both legitimate parties pointing fingers and the consultant nowhere to be found, the scammer would vanish with the entire fund and leave behind a costly legal mess.
COR3 Innovations Steps In: Rapid Audit, Zero Loss
Rapid Audit the Moment We Were Engaged:
Secondary Hosting Domain: We noticed immediately that the site was on *.onrender.com rather than a known, trusted domain, despite displaying a professional interface.
Insecure Wallet-Connection Code: The platform’s scripts skipped checksum validation and offered no hardware-wallet (Ledger/Trezor) support.
No On-Chain Escrow Contract: There was no smart contract address to hold funds; everything ran through opaque API calls.
Stopping the Process Before Any Funds Moved:
Alerted the Client & Consultant: We sent a concise report to both the investment firms and the consultant, highlighting that proceeding would mean instant theft of 25 million USDT.
Canceled All Connections: Because the Sender hadn’t yet connected their wallet, we redirected them to deploy their USDT into a verified, hardware-wallet-protected multisignature address instead.
Protected Reputation & Assets: With zero on-chain exposure, no funds were at risk, and neither party faced litigation or reputational damage.
Outcome:
Zero Funds Lost: The attacker never gained control of a single USDT.
No Lawsuit: By halting the transaction, both sides avoided a protracted legal battle.
Preserved Reputation: Neither firm nor the consultant suffered brand damage or regulatory scrutiny.
Lessons Learned & Best Practices
Always Verify Domains & SSL/TLS, Even If Recommended:
Never assume a third-party suggestion is safe; verify that the URL is a genuine custom domain. Anyone can spin up a vendor-hosted subdomain (e.g., something.onrender.com).Demand Hardware-Wallet Confirmation for Large Transfers:
Significant transactions (six- or seven-figure sums) should always require an external, physical signature. Browser-only approvals are inherently risky.Confirm Audited Smart Contracts On-Chain:
Legitimate escrow or verification services publish their contract address publicly; if no contract exists on-chain, walk away.Engage Experts Before Funds Move:
A swift security audit can uncover hidden traps, in this case, saving 25 million USDT and avoiding multimillion-dollar liability.
Why COR3 Innovations?
At COR3 Innovations, we specialize in securing high-value Web 3 transactions for Web 2 firms. Our services include:
Smart Contract Audits: Manual code reviews and automated vulnerability scans.
Penetration Testing: Simulating real-world attacks on wallet-connection flows.
Domain & SSL/TLS Validation: Ensuring any platform you use is genuine.
Comprehensive Due Diligence: Covering KYC/AML compliance and UX/UI red flags.
Don’t risk losing anything, or your reputation, on an unvetted platform, even if it’s recommended by a consultant.
Details have been anonymized to protect client confidentiality.
