Voyager faces potential data breach amid bankruptcy payouts

2 Aug 2023

Image: © Ascannio/Stock.adobe.com

The crypto company reopened its platform to let customers withdraw funds, but has received multiple reports of scams targeting these creditors.

Crypto lender Voyager Digital is investigating the possibility it was hacked and that the personal data of customers was stolen.

The company filed for bankruptcy and suspended trading on its platform last year due to “prolonged volatility and contagion” in the cryptocurrency market. But Voyager reopened its platform for 30 days in June, to let customers withdraw their funds.

Roughly $491m worth of cryptocurrency was withdrawn during this period. But in a recent legal document, Voyager’s lawyers said reports were received of “numerous scams and phishing attempts” targeting the company’s creditors.

Voyager said a data breach “may have occurred” as these scams involved the names, contact information and claim amounts of the company’s customers.

“Upon learning of these schemes, the Wind-Down Debtors [Voyager] retained outside professionals with specialised expertise to conduct an investigation of the situation,” the company’s lawyers said. “That investigation is in process”.

Voyager claims to have reported the potential data breach to the appropriate law enforcement authorities. The company also said it has contacted customers by email to inform them of the potential scams and to be “on high alert”.

The bankrupt crypto lender also said it is working to identify and take down fraudulent websites and email addresses.

Voyager isn’t the only bankrupt crypto company being potentially exploited by scams however. There are claims that former users of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX are being targeted by potential phishing attacks, Coindesk reports.

Crypto crime

The cryptocurrency sector has faced several hits over the past year, with multiple companies in the sector collapsing and regulatory pressure in the US.

The sector has also been subject to multiple high-profile cyberattacks. Earlier this week, it was revealed that a programming language bug used to exploit Curve Finance may have put $100m worth of crypto at risk.

The latest attack comes even as cryptocurrency-related crime appears to be down significantly compared to last year, according to a recent report by Chainalysis.

The blockchain analysis company’s report suggests that illicit activities related to crypto is down by 65pc compared to the same period last year, while deposits made to “risky” entities are down by 42pc.

This follows a particularly crime-riddled year for the sector, as a report in January suggested that the level of crypto-based illegal activity in 2022 was the highest on record, with $20.1bn in illegal transactions reported.

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Leigh Mc Gowran is a journalist with Silicon Republic

editorial@siliconrepublic.com