In March, Ethereum layer 2 platform Base experienced a significant surge in cryptocurrency theft due to phishing scams, with approximately $3.35 million stolen, marking an 18-fold increase compared to January. This represents a 334% rise from February and a staggering 1,880% spike from January, according to data from Scam Sniffer.

Binance’s BNB Smart Chain also observed a rise in phishing scams during March, resulting in approximately $71.5 million lost across all chains from 77,529 victims. Fake X accounts remain a primary tactic for phishing, with over 1,500 incidents detected in March alone. Despite the increase in phishing scams, crypto hack thefts decreased by 48% to $187.2 million in March, with almost all of the recoveries attributed to the Munchibles exploit, where cryptocurrency expert ZachXBT played a role in recovering the stolen funds.

However, Curio and Prisma Finance were among the platforms affected by hacks in March, with losses of $40 million and $11.6 million, respectively.