Crypto Phishing Losses Plummet by 83% in 2025

Significant Declines in Crypto Phishing Losses

Losses from phishing associated with wallet breaches have drastically decreased in 2025, totaling $83.85 million, marking an 83% reduction from nearly $494 million in 2024. The number of victims has also significantly fallen, reaching 106, a 68% decrease compared to the previous year, according to a recent report by the Web3 security platform, Scam Sniffer.

Although this decline is notable, the report warns that phishing activities have not completely vanished. Losses closely followed market cycles, increasing during periods of heightened on-chain activity and decreasing as markets cooled. The third quarter of 2025, coinciding with Ethereum (ETH)'s strongest rally of the year, recorded the highest phishing losses, totaling $31 million, which accounts for nearly 29% of annual losses.

In August, the most active month in terms of market activity, monthly phishing losses reached $12.17 million. The largest phishing theft of the year amounted to $6.5 million in September, involving a malicious Permit signature. Permit-based attacks accounted for 38% of losses related to incidents exceeding $1 million.

2025 also marked the emergence of new attack vectors based on malicious EIP-7702 signatures, which surfaced immediately after Ethereum's Pectra upgrade. Although large-scale incidents decreased, with only 11 cases exceeding $1 million reported in 2025, the report highlights that attackers are increasingly favoring strategies with higher volume, with the average loss per victim dropping to $790.

In conclusion, the drainer ecosystem remains active—while old drainers fade from the scene, new ones emerge to fill the void.