Aave Hits $60B in Deposits—Now Scammers Are Circling Like Vultures

DeFi's lending giant Aave just smashed records with $60B in deposits—and the wolves are already at the door.

Phantom ads, fake support accounts, and classic 'send me your keys' scams are flooding search results and social feeds. No surprise—where the money flows, the grifters follow.

Security teams are scrambling, but let's be real: in crypto, the 'not your keys, not your coins' mantra cuts both ways. Lose them to a scam? That's just the free market at work, folks.

Stay sharp out there. The only thing growing faster than Aave's TVL is the creativity of its parasites.

Phishing Attack via Google Ads

Right after Aave announced its record achievement, scammers started running fake ads on Google. PeckShield, a blockchain investigation firm, alerted the crypto community that these ads led users to lookalike websites pretending to be official Aave investment platforms.

#PeckShieldAlert Fake "Aave" ads are topping Google search results.

The phishing site is aaxe[.]co[.]com.

The ads are designed to drain your wallet through malicious transaction signatures. pic.twitter.com/LdVHMflFAT

When users clicked on such links, fake sites prompted users to link their crypto wallets. If a user did so, then the scammers WOULD be able to steal all the funds from the wallet.

As soon as the wallet got linked to the phishing website, the scammers were able to transfer assets, and the transactions could not be cancelled, leading to the victims losing their money for good.

The total amount of money stolen has not been established yet, but since Google Ads were utilized for the scam, the ads would have reached numerous users.

Essential Security Measures 

Phishing scams are being increasingly used to mislead individuals into believing they are legitimate websites or services. To prevent getting ripped off, users should always verify the site URL first before connecting the wallet or sending any money.

If the user believes the wallet has been compromised, they should transfer funds to a new wallet right away. In addition, use token management tools and services to cancel any approvals that may have been made to questionable sites. Never reuse a compromised wallet because scammers can continue to follow and withdraw any money deposited into it in the future.

Also Read: Fake Trading Bots on YouTube Drain Over 256 ETH: SentinelLABS