Key Takeaways:

• A crypto investor lost $908,551 in USDC after unknowingly signing a malicious approval in April 2024.
  
• The scammer waited 458 days before executing the theft, a strategy commonly used in phishing approval attacks.
  
• The victim’s wallet remained dormant until two major deposits totaling $908K were made in July 2025.
  
• The attack was linked to “pink-drainer.eth,” a wallet associated with prior phishing operations.
  
• Users are encouraged to revoke outdated token approvals using tools like Etherscan’s Token Approval Checker.
  
• In July 2025 alone, scammers stole more than $142 million across at least 17 incidents.
  

A Silent Approval Leads to a $908K Crypto Theft

A crypto user has fallen victim to a highly coordinated wallet-draining attack, losing $908,551 in USDC more than 15 months after signing a seemingly harmless approval transaction. Blockchain records confirm that the initial approval was granted on April 30, 2024, likely through a phishing website disguised as a legitimate dApp or token airdrop.

This approval gave the attacker’s wallet—identified as “0x67E5Ae” and associated with the well-known “pink-drainer.eth” – continuous access to the victim’s funds. Yet, no immediate theft occurred. Instead, the attacker waited for the right moment, tracking the compromised wallet for over a year until it finally became profitable.

That moment came on August 2, 2025, at 4:57 am UTC. The scammer drained the entire balance in a single transaction, stealing just over $908K. Blockchain security platform Scam Sniffer reported the incident and issued a reminder to the community:

“Regularly review and revoke old approvals. Your wallet security matters.”

Phishing Scams Are Playing the Long Game

For over a year, the victim’s wallet had little to no activity and held minimal value, offering the attacker no incentive to act. Then on July 2, 2025, everything changed. At 8:41 pm UTC, the victim transferred $762,397 worth of USDC into the previously compromised address, “0x6c0eB6,” using a MetaMask wallet. Just ten minutes later, an additional $146,154 in USDC was deposited from a Kraken exchange wallet.

The attacker likely monitored these transfers in real time, observing the inflow of funds. Over the next month, they waited to see whether the wallet would continue accumulating more assets. Once it became clear that the balance had peaked, the scammer moved decisively, draining the funds with precision and zero interaction from the victim.

This type of phishing exploit relies not on brute force, but on patience. Attackers benefit from users who forget about past approvals and fail to regularly audit wallet permissions. By the time the wallet is targeted, it’s already too late.

Fortunately, there are tools available to mitigate such threats. Etherscan’s Token Approval Checker allows users to inspect and revoke unnecessary permissions. However, each revocation requires a gas fee and must be initiated proactively. That extra step, while often overlooked, could prevent devastating losses.

The broader threat landscape is growing as well. According to security trackers, crypto-related scams accounted for more than $142 million in losses during July 2025 alone, spread across at least 17 separate incidents. Although large-scale exchange breaches like the CoinDCX exploit dominate headlines, individual wallet attacks like this one underscore how silent approvals can become time bombs.

Vigilance is no longer optional. In a world where scammers are willing to wait over a year to exploit a single click, crypto users must stay alert—or risk losing everything.