Famous American actor and comedian Bill Murray has become the latest victim of hackers targeting cryptocurrencies. This time, the actor lost $185K worth of Ether (ETH) stolen in a hacker attack. At the current price, the value corresponds to about US$ 1 million. According to the actor’s team, the attack took place just hours after Murray finalized a non-fungible token (NFT) auction. Murray would donate the amount raised to Chive Charities, an organization that takes care of children. According to Etherscan data and additional information from the Chive team, hackers broke into the account on Thursday (1). By the weekend, hackers had stolen all the money raised in the campaign.
Hackers steal donation from sick girl
The attack took place after Murray completed the “Bill Murray 1000” collection auction. The auction took place on Coinbase’s NFT platform and raised 119.2 ETH. According to Murray, proceeds from the NFT auction would be donated to Chive Charities. Specifically, to support the care of a three-year-old girl named Evelyn, who is suffering from the effects of a rare CLDN5 gene mutation and intractable epilepsy. Ultimately, the hackers drained almost all funds from the wallet. The attackers also tried to steal NFTs from the actor’s personal wallet, but a security team identified the attempt. In this way, Venkman executives prevented hackers from stealing the NFTs. In total, Murray’s wallet contains over 800 NFTs, split between personal works and other NFTs from the Bill Murray 1000 collection. In addition to the NFTs in the collection, Murray had CryptoPunks, Pudgy Penguin, Cool Cat, and Flower Girls. However, Project Venkman moved these NFTs to various secure wallets. Murray and his team will auction the remaining NFTs on Wednesday (7), also through Coinbase. Investigators have not yet been able to identify how the hackers were able to access Murray’s wallet, nor identify the perpetrators of the crime. Murray’s team revealed they filed a police report after the attack. Now, the actor and his team are trying to identify the hackers and recover some part of the total amount. Murray and his team are working with Chainalysis to investigate the attack and identify the attackers.
Benefactor replaces stolen value
While investigations are ongoing, the theft damaged the campaign and jeopardized funding for little Evelyn’s treatment. However, an anonymous benefactor decided to help and donate 120 ETH to replenish the funds. The amount corresponds to BRL 1.1 million and the donor sent the funds directly to Chive Charities. This mystery donor participated in the NFTs auction, taking second place. At the auction, the donor is known by the pseudonym Mishap72. Finally, the donor said he doesn’t want any refunds if the team manages to recover the amount. That is, if they manage to recover the stolen goods, they will also be used for Evelyn’s medical care. Read also: Justice of Rio asks for extradition of wife of ‘Pharaoh of Bitcoins’ Read also: Russia will allow use of Bitcoin in international payments
