BlockBeats report, on February 22, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams warned that fake search engine ads impersonating Uniswap continue to appear, resulting in users losing all their high-value crypto assets. Scammers purchase keywords such as “Uniswap” to promote counterfeit websites that rank at the top of search results, with interfaces designed to closely mimic the official site. Once users connect their wallets and authorize transactions, their funds are immediately drained. These attacks rely on user signature authorization rather than vulnerabilities in the protocol layer.
A user on platform X, "Ika," reported losing cryptocurrency wallet assets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars after clicking on a counterfeit link in search results. Screenshots shared by Ika show that the fraudulent link appeared at the top of search results and was highly deceptive. A similar incident occurred in October 2024, when scammers replicated the Uniswap website interface and induced users to connect their wallets through subtle button modifications.
Data from cybersecurity firm CertiK shows that the cryptocurrency industry suffered approximately $370.3 million in losses due to exploits and scams in January 2026—the highest in nearly 11 months and nearly four times the amount lost in January 2025. A single social engineering attack accounted for approximately $284 million in losses. A total of 40 related security incidents were recorded in January.
Analysis indicates that current crypto asset losses are primarily caused by user-level risks such as phishing links, fake advertisements, and social engineering attacks, rather than vulnerabilities in underlying smart contracts. As the DeFi ecosystem expands, brand impersonation and interface fraud are becoming significant threats to user trust.