Amidst a remarkable surge of nearly 1,900% in phishing scams on Base since January, the Ethereum layer-2 chain has found itself grappling with a concerning trend. This uptick in fraudulent activities coincides with a remarkable rise in total value locked within the Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem.

Recent data reveals that Ethereum layer-2 Base has witnessed an unprecedented 18-fold increase in cryptocurrency funds pilfered from phishing scams in March, when compared to figures from January. According to insights provided by blockchain anti-scam platform Scam Sniffer, the month of March alone witnessed approximately $3.35 million being siphoned off by phishing scammers on Base.

This staggering figure marks a substantial 334% surge compared to February's tally of $773,900, and an astronomical 1,880% spike when contrasted with January's comparatively modest $169,000 loss from phishing scams. Scam Sniffer's data, compiled from monthly Dune Analytics reports, underscores the severity of the situation, with Base emerging as a prime target for phishing scammers.

Interestingly, Binance's BNB Smart Chain also experienced a parallel surge in phishing scams during March, as highlighted by Scam Sniffer in an April 2 post. The month witnessed approximately $71.5 million being lost to phishing scammers across all chains, with a total of 77,529 victims falling prey to these nefarious activities. These figures outpaced both January and February tallies, which stood at $58.3 million and $46.8 million, respectively.

Of particular concern are phishing links originating from counterfeit X accounts, which continue to serve as a primary tactic for fraudsters. Scam Sniffer's data reveals over 1,500 such incidents detected in March alone, underlining the persistent threat posed by these fraudulent schemes.

The surge in Base phishing scams occurs against the backdrop of a recent memecoin craze on the Coinbase-backed chain. This trend has contributed to Base's total value locked surpassing $3.2 billion, marking a substantial 370% increase since the beginning of 2024, according to L2Beat.

While phishing scams have witnessed a sharp increase, the broader crypto landscape has seen a notable decline in hack-related thefts. According to an April 1 post from blockchain security firm PeckShield, crypto hack thefts decreased by 48% to $187.2 million in March. This figure accounts for the $98.8 million that was successfully recovered over the course of the month.

Noteworthy among these recoveries is the $97 million reclaimed from the Munchibles exploit, spearheaded by cryptocurrency sleuth ZachXBT and a team of custodians. However, incidents such as Curio's MakerDAO-based smart contract losing $40 million and Prisma Finance falling victim to an $11.6 million hack serve as reminders of the persistent threats posed by malicious actors within the crypto space.