Crypto traders using UniSwap are at risk of losing their funds to a fake UniSwap website that is being displayed as an ad on Google search, according to new findings today.
The fake site which was designed to phish seed phrases of victims by mirroring the real Uniswap decentralized exchange was first spotted by BitBoy, a crypto YouTuber, creator of BitBoyCrypto.com, and co-host of the Beards & Bitcoin Podcast.
Sharing the updated on Twitter, he warned crypto users to take caution while also blasting Google for its inadequacies in preventing such a nefarious ad campaign that mirrors a legitimate platform.
“@Google, you should be ashamed. Whoever runs @GoogleAds is FAILING MISERABLY. On YouTube where scammers get ads through and now on your own platform,” he lamented.
The real Uniswap URL is @uniswap.org,” the fake one is “unswap.site,” with an “i” omitted using a different domain extension. Although a savvy person might be able to easily differentiate both URLs, the same cannot be said for every crypto users, especially those who are in a hurry or beginners looking to use UniSwap for the first time.
Describing the discovery, BitBoy explained
“If you search UniSwap on Google, sometimes an ad listing for UniSwap will show up at the top. When you click the ad, it will take you to a site that looks JUST LIKE UniSwap, but it will ask for the seed phrase of your wallet. If you enter it, your crypto is gone.”
We confirmed this to be true as shown in the images below.
Some crypto traders have already lost their funds to the phishing site as BitBoy also reported that his friend lost $3,000 worth of cryptocurrency to the fake platform. Comments on the thread also show that BitBoy’s friend was not the only trade that has been scammed by the perpetrators.
@Bradtoshi, a Twitter user, commented that one of his friends lost $3,000 while another user @ulTron91x said he knows someone who lost $1800.
Staying Safe
To stay safe, UniSwap users should not visit the platform through Google, instead, they should visit the site directly via Uniswap.org. Traders could also visit CoinGecko and select “UniSwap” from the Exchange section, and then the pair, as suggested by a Twitter user.
Even though some of the crypto enthusiasts sympathized with the victims, they still believe it’s unwise to reveal or give out one’s seed phrase.
Just like Google, YouTube, Facebook, and other popular social networks have failed woefully at stopping cryptocurrency ad campaigns on their platform, but they do not hesitate to delete the contents of legitimate crypto projects or channels.
In March 2020, Coinfomania reported that a malicious extension mirroring Ledger Live was spotted on Chrome which was designed to steal the cryptocurrencies of unsuspecting users who install the extension.
See also: Uniswap Records More Trading Volume Than Gemini, Poloniex, and Binance US Combined
