A wallet-draining service based on The Open Network (TON) has announced its closure, citing a lack of high-value targets, or “whales,” within the network. The operators behind the scam shared their decision on 7th October via Web3 anti-scam platform Scam Sniffer, declaring that the relatively small size of the TON community made their operations unprofitable.
TON Lacks Whales, Says Drainer
The wallet drainer stated that the limited presence of crypto whales within TON meant there wasn’t enough wealth to justify continuing the service. “Due to TON not having whales and it being a small community, we will close,” they announced. Instead, they directed their users toward draining Bitcoin, suggesting that those who “enjoyed draining” TON would “love” doing the same with BTC.
The drainer made it clear that their TON-based operation would not be returning but advertised another service focusing on Bitcoin.
Increased Interest in TON Drainers Since June
Despite the closure, TON has increasingly caught the attention of scammers. Raz Niv, co-founder of Blockaid, revealed earlier this year that more drainers had been eyeing the TON ecosystem due to the rising value being streamed through the network. One TON scam involved luring victims with fake transactions of 5,000 USDt (Tether), using TON’s custom message feature to mask malicious signatures.
In May, Scam Sniffer reported that this technique had already drained over 22,000 Toncoin (TON) tokens, worth more than $150,000 at the time.
Crypto Phishing Scams on the Rise
Meanwhile, phishing scams continue to plague the broader cryptocurrency world. Scam Sniffer’s data revealed that September alone saw approximately 10,800 victims lose a combined $46.6 million to phishing attacks. The majority of losses stemmed from a single phishing transaction that drained over $32 million in digital assets. Phishing typically tricks users into connecting their wallets to fraudulent services, allowing scammers to empty their funds.
