The team behind the infamous crypto wallet draining project Inferno has transferred control of its kit to rival draining as a service (DaaS) provider, Angel Drainer team. In an announcement shared on X by ScamSniffer, Inferno Drainer said it was time to quit.
According to the Inferno developers, quitting was not easy. Still, it has identified the Angel Drainer team as capable of managing the platform and is trusted not to scam or exploit another drainer.
It said:
“We find the Angel Drainer team competent enough to maintain the drainer (while keeping our code base and features such as 200+ protocols, autoclaims, bypasses as well as many big pending updates, new panel with logs handling and many other things) as they have shown they could be trusted.”
Meanwhile, the Inferno team said the transfer would not affect the platform’s operations. Customers can still access its draining services using the same login details. With the takeover, it appears that the Inferno and Angel toolkits will become a single product.
The announcement marks the second time the Inferno team will quit its DaaS operations. It initially did so in November 2023 after helping scammers steal over $80 million, but later returned in 2024 to say it has been operating stealthily for six months.
Inferno Drainer Asset Transfers (Source: Scam Sniffer)
However, the team appears to be quitting for good now, as it has already transferred the 2,845 ETH ($7.5 million) in stolen funds from its fee address to other addresses. The fee address for the draining platform has also been changed on-chain, suggesting that someone else has taken control of the platform.
Angel Drainer is set to become powerful
With what seems like a merger between the two platforms that help scammers and bad actors drain crypto wallets, Angel Drainer is set to inherit a massive infrastructure. If added to its existing toolkit, the platform could become one of the biggest DaaS providers and a major threat to crypto users.
Angel Drainer is currently one of the foremost DaaS, with more than $25 million in crypto scams connected to it. However, it briefly shut down in July after security firm Match Systems claimed that it had made significant progress in deanonymizing the tool’s developers.
It returned in August and, according to security experts at Blockaid, has become more advanced. The Blockaid team observed that it has an improved version known as AngelX. The new system reportedly can deploy malicious decentralized applications (dApps) that steal users’ assets, with more than 300 dApps launched by early September.
Perhaps a more significant concern is that Angel Drainer’s new system supports phishing apps that target users on emerging layer-1 blockchain networks such as Tron and The Open Network (TON). Blockaid noted that these networks, which are in their early stages, have limited security tools and support, making them a fertile ground for scammers.
Drainer-as-a-service continues to grow
Meanwhile, the Angel and Inferno Drainers merger highlights how DaaS platforms have become a business model for bad actors in the crypto space. These platforms, which provide crypto drainers and other software tools that support scammers and other cybercriminals for a percentage of stolen funds, have continued to grow in prominence in recent years.
However, they have also faced some challenges as blockchain security tools continue to become more advanced. While most of these platforms provide malicious links and dApps, there are now tools to detect and block those links and apps. This has already led to some drainers, such as Pink Drainer and Violet Drainer, shutting down.
Nevertheless, mergers such as this suggest bad actors might now be teaming up also to improve their abilities and stand a better chance.