Hack Exposes Polymarket Users to $3 Million in Stolen Cryptocurrency
Prediction market giant Polymarket has confirmed that hackers have stolen funds from an unspecified number of users after a third-party breach, with losses totaling $3 million.
In an X post on Thursday, Polymarket said that a compromise at a third-party vendor allowed hackers to inject malicious code into its website “for some users.” The company said it has “contained” the incident and is now contacting the affected victims and “refunding them in full.”
As of Thursday afternoon, it’s unclear exactly what happened.
When reached by TechCrunch, Polymarket spokesperson Connor Brandi confirmed that the breach led to users’ funds being stolen but declined to provide more information, and did not respond to specific questions about the incident.
Around the same time as the Polymarket post, blockchain monitoring firm PeckShield reported on X that a phishing campaign was targeting Polymarket users. According to PeckShield, hackers had stolen around $3 million worth of cryptocurrency.
A blockchain analyst also reported similar losses and claimed that the funds were stolen from more than 11 victims.
Polymarket offers users the possibility of being paid in cryptocurrency.
In the last couple of days, two people on social media claimed to have had their Polymarket funds stolen.
The hack is the latest blow for a company that has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons this week. On Sunday, an investigation revealed that Polymarket had paid online creators to post deceptive videos showing they won lucrative bets that were actually fake. In response, the company said it would audit its promotional content.
Polymarket has been under fire for its practices in recent weeks, and this latest incident is sure to raise further questions about the company's security measures.
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Polymarket's response to the breach has been criticized for being slow and inadequate.
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The company's decision to pay online creators to post fake videos has been deemed deceptive and misleading.
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The incident highlights the need for greater regulation in the prediction market industry.
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