ScamSniffer: Google and X ads are promoting sites containing “MS Drainer”, a cryptocurrency drainer that has stolen $59M from 63,210 victims since March 2023
Google and Twitter ads are promoting sites containing a cryptocurrency drainer named ‘MS Drainer’ that has already stolen $59 million …
Context & Ripple Effects
This is part of a recurring pattern in which paid search placement is used to impersonate trusted crypto destinations: earlier reporting documented attackers using Google Search ads to steer people to fake wallet domains in a long-running Google Search ad scam.
The problem is not confined to search. Reports shortly afterward described more malicious crypto ads appearing on X, suggesting that ad inventory can amplify wallet-draining and token-promotion scams across major consumer platforms.
First-order effects
- People who reach the promoted sites face immediate risk of crypto theft; ScamSniffer attributes $59 million in losses across 63,210 victims to MS Drainer since March 2023.
- Google and X’s ad products become a distribution channel for the malicious sites, putting the effectiveness of their ad-review and takedown processes under scrutiny.
Second-order effects
- Wallet providers, crypto projects, and security-monitoring services must spend more on warnings and detection because paid placements can make fraudulent destinations appear more credible than unsolicited links.
- Repeated malicious-ad reports can push platforms toward tighter crypto-ad verification and faster enforcement, increasing friction for legitimate crypto advertisers as well as scammers.
Third-order effects
- If paid ads remain a reliable route to wallet drainers, trust in platform-delivered crypto discovery will erode and safety checks will shift from optional security tooling toward a core part of the crypto user journey.
- The episode reinforces the crypto legitimacy gap: familiar ad surfaces can confer credibility without establishing that a promoted financial service is safe.
The trend: Crypto scams are increasingly exploiting mainstream advertising infrastructure to borrow platform trust and reach users at scale.