Old Trading Bot Scam Rebranded As ChatGPT Arbitrage MEV Bot

According to Cointelegraph, an increasing number of users are falling victim to an old trading bot scam that has been rebranded to exploit the current hype around artificial intelligence. Blockchain security firm SlowMist reported in an Oct. 13 Medium post that cybercriminals have adapted their tactics by using OpenAI’s ChatGPT in the name of their scam bots to appear more credible. Previously marketed as a “Uniswap Arbitrage MEV Bot,” the scam has now been rebranded as a “ChatGPT Arbitrage MEV Bot.” SlowMist explained that by associating their scams with ChatGPT, the scammers manage to grab attention and ease users' doubts about any malicious intent in the code. The scammers claim that they used ChatGPT to generate the bot’s code, which helps to further convince users of its legitimacy. The scam involves luring users with the promise of a trading bot that will help net large profits by monitoring new tokens and significant price fluctuations on Ethereum. Victims are encouraged to create a MetaMask wallet and click on a fraudulent link on the open-source platform Remix. Once the code is copied and the bot is deployed, users are told to fund the smart contract to “activate” it. However, when the user clicks ‘start,’ the deposited ETH vanishes, funneled straight into the scammer’s wallet via a backdoor coded into the smart contract. The outgoing funds are either transferred directly to exchanges or moved to temporary storage addresses. SlowMist has identified three scammer addresses using these techniques. One address stole 30 Ether (ETH), worth over $78,000, from over 100 victims since August. Two other addresses stole 20 Ether, worth over $52,000, from 93 victims. The scammers employ a “wide-net approach,” stealing small amounts from many victims, who often do not bother trying to retrieve the funds because the effort required is greater than the amount stolen. This allows the scammers to continue their operations, often rebranding the scam under a new name. The blockchain security firm also noted that the internet, particularly YouTube, has many videos promoting this type of scam. Red flags indicating a scam can include the video and audio being out of sync, or recycled footage from another source. An unusually high number of comments with praise and thanks at the top of the thread, with later updates calling the scheme out as a scam, can also be red flags.