LocalBitcoins suffers security breach with hackers accessing wallets

Peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange LocalBitcoins has suffered a security breach. The hack has affected “a small number of users” who have had their wallets accessed by hackers.

LocalBitcoins released an update on Saturday, stating that they had detected a “security vulnerability from an unauthorised source.”

A user of the exchange revealed on Twitter that the LocalBitcoins forum site had been replaced by a phishing landing page, which prompted users to input their two-factor authentication details as well as login details.

As a result, hackers had access to users’ wallets, with one Reddit user claiming that their wallet was “wiped clean” by the hackers.

LocalBitcoins, who disabled outgoing transactions when the breach was identified, said: “We have taken a number of measures to address this issue and secure the limited number of accounts that might have been at risk.”

This isn’t the first case of a hack affecting cryptocurrency exchanges this month. New Zealand-based Cryptopia fell victim to a hack that saw more than $11 million siphoned out of the site.

Last year, Japanese exchange CoinCheck saw $496 million stolen from their site by hackers, while the famous Mt Gox hack in 2013 ended in a loss of $357 million.

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