Binance has alerted users to the rising threat of SMS phishing attacks where scammers manipulate sender information to appear legitimate, emphasizing the exchange never contacts users through SMS channels.
By Temitope Olatunji
Edited by Marco T. Lanz
Updated
3 mins read
Binance has issued warnings to its users about a growing threat—SMS phishing attacks. This scam method has become increasingly common in the cryptocurrency space, putting users’ assets at risk.
SMS phishing enables bad actors to pretend to be trusted companies. They change the sender’s number so the text looks real, tricking people into thinking it’s part of a real conversation with the company.
In a post on X, the exchange said it is still focused on keeping users safe. It promised to add new features to help users check if text messages claiming to be from Binance are real. The company said protecting users and stopping fraud is its most important goal.
Binance urged users to carefully verify the source of any SMS they receive and avoid clicking on suspicious links. Users should protect their personal information, especially passwords and private keys. The exchange also clarified that it does not contact users via SMS or phone calls—all legitimate communication occurs through official customer support channels. The exchange wrote:
“Binance is committed to protecting the security of user assets and combating illegal fraud. We plan to launch a new security feature in the near future to help users identify the authenticity of text messages, so stay tuned.”
Cybersecurity team SlowMist has been monitoring these attacks and recently reported a wave of SMS phishing targeting Binance users. Their analysis revealed how scammers create convincing messages that appear to come from Binance’s official SMS service. The attackers likely exploit SMS gateways or vulnerabilities in third-party messaging services to execute this deception.
Joe Zhou, a Binance user, shared his experience. Zhou received what appeared to be an urgent message from the exchange, claiming his account was being accessed from North Korea. He reported that when he called the provided number, someone with a British accent answered and instructed him to set up a SafePal wallet, falsely claiming it was a Binance partner. The scammer insisted Zhou transfer his assets there for an “investigation.” After following these instructions, he later contacted a friend who worked at Binance and confirmed his suspicions—he had been scammed.
Zhou reported that he quickly attempted to transfer his funds out of the SafePal wallet but encountered difficulties and ultimately lost approximately $200 worth of his remaining tokens.
ScamSniffer, a blockchain security firm, revealed in its January phishing report that 9,220 victims lost a total of $10.25 million to crypto phishing scams, marking a 56% decline from December 2024’s $23.58 million in losses.
Despite this improvement, Coinbase users face substantial ongoing threats. According to blockchain investigator ZachXBT, Coinbase users lose over $300 million annually to phishing attacks.
1/ Over the past few months I imagine you have seen many Coinbase users complain on X about their accounts suddenly being restricted.
This is the result of aggressive risk models and Coinbase’s failure to stop its users losing $300M+ per year to social engineering scams. pic.twitter.com/PjtX7vmjqc
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) February 3, 2025
Temitope is a writer with more than four years of experience writing across various niches. He has a special interest in the fintech and blockchain spaces and enjoy writing articles in those areas. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees in linguistics. When not writing, he trades forex and plays video games.
