The scam involved a fake wallet verification prompt that appeared as a popup on CoinMarketCap. Multiple users flagged it as a phishing attempt, with warnings posted on social media. According to user reports, the prompt asked users to connect their wallets and approve access to ERC-20 tokens.
CoinMarketCap confirmed the issue on June 21, stating,
“We’re aware that a malicious popup prompting users to ‘Verify Wallet’ has appeared on our site.”
Less than three hours later, the platform announced it had removed the code but was continuing its investigation.
Security Response from Wallet Providers
Wallet services MetaMask and Phantom flagged the site after detecting suspicious behavior. Phantom marked the website as unsafe, warning users with a browser extension not to interact with it.
A user named Jet posted that both MetaMask and Phantom had “red-flagged it” shortly after the malicious popup appeared. Another user, Auri, explained the scam popup asked for wallet connections and token approvals.
CoinMarketCap’s Security Record
The incident follows a major data breach in October 2021, when hackers accessed and leaked more than 3.1 million user email addresses from CoinMarketCap. The stolen data was later found on hacking forums and confirmed by security tracker Have I Been Pwned.
CoinMarketCap has not disclosed how the latest malicious code was inserted into its website or how long it remained active. The team has said it is still working to strengthen its security protocols.
