Cointelegraph
Last changed 2026-10-27 · Score recalculated — Rescored under Scoring v2, the published formula (avoid.net/scoring): 62 → 54. Problems weighed by who is responsible: incidents the subject suffered −12.8; legitimacy credit long-running +2; fact-check adjustments (+18) now shown as page reliability, not in the score. Version history →
Why this score
| Every page starts at | 65 |
| Incidents it suffered (e.g. hacks) | -12.8 |
| Long-running | +2 |
| Sum | 54 |
Score: 54/100 (kept between 0 and 100)
How scoring works →Summary
Cointelegraph is a major legitimate cryptocurrency news outlet that has been a victim of two distinct infrastructure compromises. In January 2024, attackers breached its email service provider MailerLite and sent phishing emails to subscribers using Angel Drainer malware, resulting in estimated losses of $580,000 to over $700,000 across affected platforms. In June 2025, attackers separately compromised Cointelegraph's banner advertising system to serve Inferno Drainer-linked pop-ups promoting a fake CTG token airdrop to site visitors.
Connected Entities
4 entities · 60 linked investigations- Inferno Drainer→mentioned with→Ethereum(70%)
- Inferno Drainer→mentioned with→ZachXBT(65%)
- Cointelegraph→mentioned with→Ethereum(60%)
- Cointelegraph→mentioned with→Inferno Drainer(80%)
- Cointelegraph→mentioned with→ZachXBT(70%)
- ZachXBT→mentioned with→Ethereum(70%)
Timeline(6 events)
23 January 2024
Attackers use compromised MailerLite access to send phishing emails from Cointelegraph, WalletConnect, Token Terminal, De.Fi, and Decrypt official email addresses. Phishing emails promote fake airdrops and deploy Angel Drainer via malicious dApps. ZachXBT warns on Telegram and identifies attacker wallet address 0xe7D13137923142A0424771E1778865b88752B3c7.
23 January 2024
ZachXBT reports over $580,000 has been drained from victims across multiple chains within hours of the campaign launch.
24 January 2024
MailerLite confirms the breach, disclosing that a support team member was socially engineered via a fraudulent Google sign-in page. 117 accounts were initially reported as accessed (later revised to 70), with four used to launch phishing campaigns. MailerLite notified affected customers within 8 hours.
24 January 2024
Total losses from the MailerLite phishing campaign estimated at approximately $700,000 in liquid assets (Nansen's $3.3M figure revised downward after accounting for illiquid XBANKING tokens). Blockaid reports it protected an additional $2.7 million in user funds.
21 June 2025
Cointelegraph's banner publishing system is briefly compromised. A malicious JavaScript payload is injected via a fraudulent ad network domain resembling AdButler, displaying a fake CTG token ICO airdrop pop-up connected to Inferno Drainer infrastructure.
22 June 2025
Cointelegraph publicly warns users not to interact with pop-ups promoting CTG tokens or connect wallets to suspicious prompts. The compromised banner system is cleaned. Help Net Security and Scam Sniffer attribute both the Cointelegraph and CoinMarketCap attacks to Inferno Drainer customers.
Decision Log
- slot 461963374 · hash GUpsM85BLWVkYbKumKG924xUwA4BEPgvaQ75kGDmaJE
- slot 426514554 · hash 6NAuLND5kA6oMKVAU5Ju9qLnujUJbPgfmG6dRFH91Ss4
- slot 426514550 · hash GPh8NVDhVLQub71s25EfDZUiv3qPC9FjmKh1o5iJn7X4
- slot 420795124 · hash BWZjvgQYA6VHU58Eeard5yiz5hQgKtRwN2usCmBtfZ16
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (4 decisions).
model: claude-sonnet
generated: 5/4/2026, 4:05:04 PM
last updated: 10/27/2026, 6:03:46 AM
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