Crypto exchange Upbit stems fake APT token flood, resumes services

South Korea cryptocurrency exchange Upbit has resumed Aptos (APT) deposits and withdrawals again after fixing an issue that saw a scam APT token incorrectly recognized as the real deal.

On Sept. 24, Upbit abruptly halted Aptos token services after noting an “abnormal deposit attempt,” prompting an inspection of the wallet system.

The problem appears to have originated from a newly created fake APT token called “ClaimAPTGift.com” which had made its way to 400,000 Aptos wallets after its creation on Sept. 21.

The fake token was likely part of a typical token airdrop scam, in which users are airdropped tokens that contain links pointing unsuspecting users to phishing websites.

However, a reported failure by Upbit to properly verify the source code of the scam tokens led to the exchange recognizing the fake tokens as real Aptos tokens. Various Korean users reported they had received APT without sending themselves any, according to X user Definalist.

“It seems that during the process of reflecting $APT coin deposits, there was a failure to check the type arguments, and all same functions transfers were recognized as the same APT native token.”

⚡️How did such a huge and foolish incident occur?

– It seems that during the process of reflecting $APT coin deposits, there was a failure to check the type arguments, and all same functions transfers were recognized as the same APT native token.
– Under normal circumstances,… https://t.co/CvDgTdqnGl pic.twitter.com/8gEx5YnOLH

— Definalist (@definalist) September 24, 2023

This reportedly led to users who sold the fake APT tokens being able to walk away with funds. Upbit’s customer center has reportedly started to request refunds from users who sold the fake APT tokens.

The issue has since been fixed. As of Sept. 24 at 11:00 pm local time, Upbit confirmed it has resumed deposits and withdrawals after completing the wallet inspection.

“The action against the abnormal deposit attempt has been completed, and there is no problem with your Aptos transaction,” it said in a statement.

It however warned that there could be delays in processing deposits and withdrawals, and possible temporary price fluctuations in the APT tokens as compared to other exchanges.

APT is currently trading at $5.31 over the last 24 hours, however, the price of APT on Upbit is around $5.56, according to CoinGecko.