Key Takeaways:
- Attackers stole at least $400,000 through fake Uniswap ads on Google Search
- Two wallet addresses tied to the scam held 146 ETH, worth roughly $306,000
- SEAL blocked 356+ malicious ad links over the past year as the campaign continues
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Fake Uniswap Google ads drain $400,000 from crypto users in phishing scam
Scammers stole at least $400,000 from crypto users by placing fake Uniswap ads on Google Search, on-chain data shows.
Attackers siphoned at least $400,000 from crypto users through sponsored Google Search ads impersonating Uniswap, on-chain investigator b-block said on May 25.
"It's insane that Google has ignored this issue for years while fake links keep getting pushed above real ones and users keep getting drained," Stacy Muur, founder of Web3 marketing agency Green Dots, said.
Two wallet addresses tied to the operation held 146 ETH, worth roughly $306,000 at the time of reporting, per Etherscan data. The phishing campaign used a wallet drainer called AngelFerno — a scam-as-a-service tool that targets DeFi users through cloned interfaces. Attackers deployed Cyrillic characters in URLs to make fake domains appear visually identical to the legitimate app.uniswap.org.
The attack is the latest in a sustained campaign exploiting Google's advertising infrastructure for more than a year. The Security Alliance, or SEAL, reported that phishing campaigns tied to malicious Google ads stole more than $1.27 million between March 13 and 30 alone, with Uniswap accounting for 41% of all impersonated brands.
Victims who click a sponsored ad land on a convincing clone of the Uniswap interface. Connecting a wallet and signing a transaction grants attackers approval to drain assets directly. SEAL said it blocked more than 356 malicious advertisement links over the past year and warned the campaign remained active. One single theft in early March reached $385,000.
Beyond Uniswap, attackers have impersonated PancakeSwap, Morpho Finance, Hyperliquid, CoW Swap, and Ledger. Morpho Finance accounted for 31% of detected malicious sites. In early May, attackers also abused Google Ads alongside shared chats with the AI chatbot Claude in a malvertising campaign targeting Mac users.
Uniswap founder Hayden Adams criticized the ongoing scams in February, saying fraudulent apps impersonating Uniswap circulated while the company waited months for approval on Apple's App Store. He noted that scam advertisements continued to reappear despite ongoing reporting efforts.
The FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report logged 181,565 cryptocurrency-related complaints totaling $11.36 billion in losses, a 22% increase from 2024. Crypto-linked phishing and spoofing alone produced 7,164 complaints and more than $111 million in reported losses.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
[1] Scammers Exploit Google Ads to Impersonate Uniswap, Netting $400K[2] Scammers exploit Google Ads route to steal $400K+ from Uniswap users[3] Scammers make $400K through fake Uniswap ads on Google[4] Fake Uniswap Site Drains $400,000 From Multiple Wallets, Investigator Warns[5] Fake Uniswap Google Ads — $400K Stolen in Phishing Scam 2026
