Please be careful. There is a new scam going around and it cost my friend 38 ETH.

So around yesterday afternoon my friend wanted to jump on MetaMask since he was going to convert some shit coins that he threw some money into, a few months back, and convert them into stablecoin.

To give you some context, he's got a degree in computer science and is well versed in cyber security. He's been into cryptocurrency for a solid 3-4 years now and has made a fortune out of some good projects.

Overall, he knows all the generic scams such as the 'copy-paste' scam (where your computer has a virus and this virus changes your address to the scammers address when transferring funds), the gas-fee scam, and a multitude of others.

Idk if it was a lapse of judgement, or just error on his part, but he said he accidently clicked on a Google ad for MetaMask wallet, which forwarded him onto a site with a near exact replica of the official website.

It was phishing website that copied the brand and messaging of the original wallet website, to near perfection.

Luckily, this was only one of many wallets that he had and the scammers ran away with 38ETH & the remaining amount of shit coins left.

In total, he lost perhaps ~$190,000 USD, including the shit coins.

To make matters worse, MetaMask took far too long to help him and to offer him support and the scammers successfully made way with the funds.

Please stay vigilant. Don't get complacent. Part of the responsibility we have with cryptocurrency is to self-manage. If this is to replace the current banking system, we need to understand how important it is to uphold security of our wallets and our private keys.

TL: DR;

Do not click on ANY Google ad search suggestions under ANY circumstance.