Base Network Becomes a Hotspot for Phishing Scams

In April 2025, Coinbase’s Layer 2 network, Base, became a hotspot for phishing scams, exposing critical security gaps.

April 2025 saw a surge in phishing scams on Coinbase's Layer 2 network, Base, exposing critical security gaps and leading to massive crypto theft.

As reported by The Block, tension peaked when a network's social media post was auto-minted into a tradable token, amassing millions in value before crashing.

Set out to create a token for everyone on Base, Zora, a token and NFT minting platform, announced on April 16 that it had integrated X's content into a tradeable ERC-20 token.

Highlighting Base's 'Base is for everyone' post and its link on its X account, Zora stated that the token was available for purchase on Uniswap.

However, what began as a highly anticipated release quickly spiraled into a rug-pull-style scam.

While the project's page included a disclaimer, saying it wasn't an official Base token, many traders mistakenly believed it was backed by Coinbase.

This belief, fueled by the token's soaring price of 133,261% and massive attention on social media, led to a buying frenzy.

According to DEXScreener, the token's valuation shot up to $16.9 million, but as news of the scam spread, confidence plummeted, causing its price to crash by 95% to just $800K.

Since then, the token has partially recovered, climbing 1,180% from its lows.

The Block noted that in April 2025 alone, Scam Sniffer observed a 145% increase in phishing scams on Base, constituting over 20% of the month's total crypto thefts.

These scams saw fraudsters impersonating other accounts to trick users into giving access to their wallets through fake social media accounts and deceptive transaction prompts.

These scams exploited weaknesses in the system that allowed unauthorized access to users' funds, while more than 34,000 high-risk vulnerabilities were found in Base's smart contracts, raising concerns about the platform's security flaws.

Overall, in 2024 alone, known losses from phishing signature attacks totaled $790 million.

This incident serves as a stark reminder of the growing threat of phishing attacks in the crypto space, especially on emerging networks like Base. Users are urged to exercise caution, verify sources, and avoid clicking on suspicious links to safeguard their digital assets.

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