Vanilla Drainer Crypto Scam Rakes In $5.27 Million in Just 21 Days

Another day, another 'innovative' financial service separating investors from their digital assets.

Vanilla Drainer—the latest 'service' targeting crypto wallets—has siphoned over $5 million from unsuspecting victims in under a month. The drainer-as-a-service platform offers customizable phishing kits that bypass security protocols with disturbing efficiency.

How It Works

The operation mimics legitimate DeFi interfaces, tricking users into approving malicious transactions. Once connected, wallets get emptied faster than a bull market during a regulatory announcement.

The Aftermath

Victims report complete wallet drainage with zero recourse. The $5.27 million haul demonstrates how easily greed overrides basic security precautions—proving once again that in crypto, the only thing more decentralized than the ledger is accountability.

Another reminder that while blockchain is trustless, human nature remains the weakest link in the chain.

What to Know:

• Vanilla Drainer has stolen $5.27 million in cryptocurrency from victims over a three-week period, with individual losses reaching up to $3 million
• The service operates by taking a 15-20% cut from stolen funds and uses advanced techniques to bypass fraud detection systems like Blockaid
• While overall crypto draining volumes dropped from 2024 peaks, new services like Vanilla are attracting former customers from shutdown operations

Emerging Threat in Cryptocurrency Crime

Drainers represent specialized criminal enterprises that provide scam software to fraudsters, typically combining their tools with phishing tactics to access victims' digital wallets. Vanilla Drainer has positioned itself as part of a new generation of these criminal services, operating largely under the radar until recent high-value thefts drew attention from blockchain security experts.

The cryptocurrency draining industry reached its peak in 2024, when victims lost nearly $500 million to major services including Angel, Inferno and Pink, according to data from Scam Sniffer. Despite the implementation of new security technologies that reduced overall volumes, blockchain investigator Darkbit warns that criminal organizations are adapting their methods to maintain profitability.

"I see [Vanilla] taking over many Inferno customers," Darkbit told investigators. "Most of the large six- and seven-figure drains of late can be attributed to Vanilla Drainer."

Evidence suggests that earlier Vanilla operations can be traced back to October 2024, but the service's first known public advertisement appeared on December 8, 2024, before becoming inaccessible. The promotional material claimed Vanilla could circumvent Blockaid, a fraud detection platform that criminal operators frequently cite as a major obstacle to their operations.

Criminal Operations and Financial Structure

The service operates on a standard industry model, taking an initial 20% cut of stolen proceeds as compensation for providing the criminal software. According to the December advertisement, this percentage could decrease for larger theft operations, creating incentives for more ambitious criminal activities.

The largest single theft attributed to Vanilla occurred on August 5, when one victim lost $3.09 million in stablecoins. In this incident, Vanilla's operators received approximately $463,000 as their fee, representing about 17% of the total stolen amount.

Following the standard operational pattern, Vanilla typically converts stolen tokens into native blockchain cryptocurrencies like Ether before transferring funds to a central fee wallet identified as 0x9d3…E710d, where most criminal proceeds accumulate. Analysis shows that around $1.6 million in this wallet has been converted to Dai, a decentralized stablecoin that maintains a peg to the US dollar but cannot be frozen like centralized alternatives such as Tether's USDT or Circle's USDC.

At the time of investigation, the identified wallet contained $2.23 million in various tokens, predominantly in DAI and Ether. This concentration represents a significant accumulation of criminal proceeds in a relatively short operational period.

Adaptation and Resurgence of Criminal Activity

Several established drainer services have ceased operations as security technologies reduced the profitability of their criminal enterprises. However, recent data indicates that criminal operators are developing new tactics to circumvent protective measures.

According to Darkbit's analysis, Vanilla employs a strategy of cycling through different internet domains without maintaining extended presence in any single location. "I'm starting to see fresh malicious contracts created for every malicious website and domain to avoid staying on the radar," the investigator noted.

Data from July revealed a substantial increase in phishing-related cryptocurrency thefts, with victims losing $7.09 million, representing a 153% increase from June figures. The number of individual victims also ROSE 56% to 9,143 during the same period, according to Scam Sniffer data.

The largest individual loss in July totaled $1.23 million, with blockchain analysis showing that draining fees from this incident amounted to 54 Ether, valued at $204,074 at the time of the theft. These criminal proceeds were ultimately transferred to the same suspected Vanilla fee wallet connected to the $3.09 million incident in August.

Understanding Cryptocurrency Criminal Terms

Cryptocurrency drainers operate as criminal service providers that develop and distribute software designed to steal digital assets from victims' wallets. These organizations typically combine their technical tools with social engineering tactics, particularly phishing schemes that trick users into connecting their wallets to malicious websites or applications.

Stablecoins, such as Dai, Tether, and USD Coin, are cryptocurrencies designed to maintain stable value by pegging their price to traditional currencies like the US dollar.

Criminal operators often prefer decentralized stablecoins like Dai because they cannot be frozen by centralized authorities, unlike their centralized counterparts.

Ether serves as the native cryptocurrency of the ethereum blockchain network, where many of these criminal operations occur due to the platform's widespread adoption for various financial applications and services.

Persistent Criminal Enterprise

Between July 15 and August 5, Vanilla facilitated at least four major criminal operations totaling $5.27 million, with each individual incident resulting in six to seven-figure losses for victims. Blockchain analysis connects Vanilla to two additional six-figure incidents in July, bringing the service's estimated responsibility to $2.19 million, representing over 30% of that month's total phishing losses.

Historical patterns suggest that public announcements of criminal service shutdowns rarely indicate permanent cessation of operations. Inferno Drainer announced its closure in November 2023, only to continue operations throughout 2024 before transferring its customer base to Angel Drainer later that year. Despite these public announcements, Inferno-linked criminal activity has continued into 2025, with connections to more than $9 million in losses over six months.

Closing Thoughts

Vanilla Drainer has rapidly established itself as a significant threat in the cryptocurrency crime landscape, demonstrating that criminal enterprises continue to evolve despite improved security measures. The service's ability to attract customers from defunct operations and generate millions in criminal proceeds within weeks highlights the persistent challenges facing digital asset security.