Reported Crypto Phishing Losses Drop 83% in 2025, But Whale Hunting Rises

Beincrypto reports that reported crypto phishing losses fell 83% in 2025, dropping to about $84 million from nearly $494 million the previous year, according to a new annual report by Web3 security firm Scam Sniffer.

The report says incidents of “signature phishing” appear to be declining, but the visible drop masks a shift toward fewer yet far more costly attacks: phishing activity peaked in the third quarter with $31 million in losses, a surge that coincided with Ethereum’s price rally to near $5,000. In November the number of victims fell by 42% while total losses spiked 137%, with the average loss per victim rising to $1,225, prompting Scam Sniffer to warn that criminal groups are pivoting from mass-market spam to targeted “whale hunting.”

Scam Sniffer also flagged new technical vulnerabilities, saying attackers quickly weaponized Ethereum’s Pectra upgrade via EIP-7702 to bundle malicious operations into a single signature, causing over $2.5 million in losses in August alone. The firm noted its figures cover only on-chain signature scams and exclude clipboard malware, social engineering and private key compromises, so total losses could be higher.

Key Topics

Crypto, Scam Sniffer, Ethereum, Pectra Upgrade, Signature Phishing, Whale Hunting