A gamer seeking financial support for cancer treatment lost $32,000 after downloading from Steam a verified game named Block Blasters that drained his cryptocurrency wallet.
Block Blasters is a 2D platformer that was available on Steam for almost two months, between July 30 and September 21. The game was safe until August 30, when a cryptodrainer component was added.
Published by developer Genesis Interactive and no longer on Steam, the retro-styled game was a free-to-play title promising fast-paced action on responsive controls, and had a few hundred ‘Very Positive’ reviews on the gaming platform.
The malicious component in the game was revealed during a live fundraising from video game streamer RastalandTV, who was trying to raise funds for life saving treatment against stage 4 high-grade sarcoma.
The gamer also started a GoFundMe crowdsourcing campaign to receive donations. At the time of writing, completion of the goal is at 58%. However, some members of the crypto community offered to cover the loss. Crypto influencer Alex Becker said that he sent Rastaland $32,500 to a safe wallet.
As the Latvian gamer explains, he lost more than $32,000 after downloading a verified game on Steam.
The malicious game on Steam
Source: Internet Archive
Crypto investigator ZachXBT told BleepingComputer that the attackers appear to have stolen a total of $150,000 from 261 Steam accounts.
VXUnderground security group, who has also been following the attack, reports a higher victim count of 478, and published a list of usernames, urging their owners to immediately reset their passwords.
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