The beginning of this year brought a harsh reminder: people remain the weakest link. Reports indicate there is approximately $370 million in it cryptocurrency were taken in January, a sharp increase from previous months.
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That increase was mainly driven by a massive social engineering scam that cost a single victim approximately $284 million. Simple lies and well-crafted messages beat the code this time.
Phishing dominates losses
According to CertiK, phishing-style scams stole about $311 million of January’s loot. That means most of the losses come from attackers tricking users and insiders rather than breaking cryptographic systems.
Social pressure, fake links and impersonation were used to trick victims into transferring money. People clicked. Money moved. Accounts were emptied.
A bigger picture of monthly fluctuations
Based on reports, January’s total is nearly four times the $98 million stolen in January 2025 and more than triple the nearly $118 million stolen in December.
The month is the biggest since February 2025, when about $1.5 billion was stolen, most of it tied to the massive Bybit heist.
These major events show how a single breach or scam can tip the balance of an entire month. Numbers can look calm one month and explosive the next. This unpredictability keeps portfolios and government bonds tense.
#CertiKStatsAlert 🚨
Adding up all the incidents from January, we found that ~$370.3 million was lost to exploits.
~$311.3 million of the total is attributed to phishing, with one victim losing ~$284 million due to social engineering scams.
More details below 👇 pic.twitter.com/uXhi0P6dl5
— CertiK Alert (@CertiKAlert) January 31, 2026
Major technical exploits hit government bonds
PeckSchild marked several major protocol attacks. Step Finance lost nearly $29 million after treasury portfolios were compromised and more than 261,000 SOL disappeared.
Truebit took a $26.4 million hit when a smart contract glitch enabled virtually free coins, which also crushed its token price.
SwapNet and Saga were among other victims, with losses of approximately $13.3 million and $7 million respectively. Those hacks were technical, aggressive and fast.
#PeckShieldAlert In January 2026, the crypto world experienced 16 hacks with a total loss of $86.01 million, representing a slight 1.42% year-over-year decline compared to January 2025 ($87.25 million), but a notable 13.25% month-over-month increase compared to December 2025 ($75.95 million).
In the meantime, #phishing remains dizzying with losses… pic.twitter.com/pxugbsPcZ7
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) February 1, 2026
Why this matters now
Reports say that 40 exploit and scam incidents occurred in January, although most of the value loss was concentrated in a few cases.
That pattern means that the raw count of incidents doesn’t tell the whole story; a single, well-executed scam can dwarf many smaller breaches combined. Some months will see a lot of petty theft. Other months will be defined by one massive fraud.
What needs to change
Security teams and project financiers must tighten both human and technical security measures. Stricter wallet controls, phased approvals and stricter identity checks would blunt social engineering strikes.
At the same time, independent code audits and faster response plans can limit the damage caused by smart contract bugs. Education programs for staff and users are cheap compared to the cost of one major loss.
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The recent spike sends a clear message: attackers are combining social skills with technical knowledge. The playbook now often starts with a message in a chat app or an email and then turns into code-level theft.
Patch software helps. Teaching people how to spot a scam can stop many attacks before they ever reach the code.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView