Crypto exchange Upbit stems fake APT token flood, resumes services

The newly created fake APT token called “ClaimAPTGift.com” made its way to 400,000 Aptos wallets, which was mistakenly recognized by crypto exchange Upbit as the real deal.

South Korea cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has resumed Aptos (APT) deposits and withdrawals again after fixing an issue that saw a scam APT token incorrectly recognized as the real deal.

On Sept. 24, Upbit abruptly halted Aptos token services after noting an “abnormal deposit attempt,” prompting an inspection of the wallet system.

The problem appears to have originated from a newly created fake APT token called “ClaimAPTGift.com” which had made its way to 400,000 Aptos wallets after its creation on Sept. 21.

The fake token was likely part of a typical token airdrop scam, in which users are airdropped tokens that contain links pointing unsuspecting users to phishing websites.

However, a reported failure by Upbit to properly verify the source code of the scam tokens led to the exchange recognizing the fake tokens as real Aptos tokens. Various Korean users reported they had received APT without sending themselves any, according to X user Definalist.

“It seems that during the process of reflecting $APT coin deposits, there was a failure to check the type arguments, and all same functions transfers were recognized as the same APT native token.”