TechFlow News, February 22: Hayden Adams, founder of Uniswap, warned that fraudulent search-engine advertisements impersonating Uniswap continue to appear, resulting in users losing their entire high-value crypto assets. Scammers purchase keyword ads such as “Uniswap” to push counterfeit websites to the top of search results; these fake sites closely mimic the official Uniswap interface. Once users connect their wallets and approve transactions, funds are immediately drained. Such attacks rely on user signature authorization—not vulnerabilities at the protocol level.
An X platform user named “Ika” reported losing cryptocurrency wallet assets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars after clicking a counterfeit link from search results. A screenshot shared by the user shows the fake link appearing at the very top of search results, making it highly deceptive. Similar incidents occurred in October 2024, when scammers replicated Uniswap’s website interface and subtly altered buttons to trick users into connecting their wallets.
According to cybersecurity firm CertiK, the crypto industry lost approximately $370.3 million in January 2026 due to exploits and scams—its highest monthly loss in nearly 11 months and nearly four times the $93.5 million lost in January 2025. Of this, a single social engineering attack accounted for roughly $284 million. A total of 40 security incidents were recorded in January.
Analysts note that current crypto asset losses stem more frequently from phishing links, fake advertisements, and social engineering attacks—risks originating at the user level—rather than underlying smart-contract vulnerabilities. As the DeFi ecosystem expands, brand impersonation and UI-based fraud are emerging as critical threats undermining user trust.
