On June 24, 2025, the security of crypto giants like Binance and Coinhouse faced a threat from the south of France.
Under the pseudonym “BinanceMan”, a 26-year-old individual contacts several employees of his platforms via WhatsApp. The objective: to obtain customer lists and sensitive information for payment.
The attacker uses social engineering to recruit one or more internal accomplices to facilitate data extraction.
The final goal, identified by the court, was to “sniff wallets”, mentions La Dépêche in a court report. This technique aims to identify and empty users’ digital wallets.
The responsiveness of employees as the first line of defense
But the attempt fails. Instead of giving in to the lure of profit, the targeted employees immediately alert their hierarchy. This reaction underlines the importance of internal awareness programs (Security Awareness Training) in companies. And in the end it is the Paris cybercrime brigade which is notified, and which joins in the dance.
His investigation shows a certain amateurism in the attempt, the individual involved using his mother’s telephone for his activities. Despite the failure of the attempt, there remains an impact on the reputation of the companies concerned.
“Now people are saying that data is poorly protected by these companies.”Binance’s lawyer told the hearing.
Results: the individual was sentenced to twelve months in prison and 4,600 euros in damages.
Cybercrime can therefore sometimes be the work of highly organized groups, but it often remains the work of opportunists exploiting human flaws. The resilience of a company is therefore no longer measured only by its firewalls, but by the ability of its employees to identify and reject dishonest solicitations from the first contact.
