Operation Asterix Phishing Exposed 885,000 Phone Numbers

A major cryptocurrency phishing campaign dubbed Operation Asterix has exposed the personal phone numbers of approximately 885,000 individuals, with thousands directly linked to user accounts on major exchanges, according to a report released by cybersecurity firm Rapid7 on August 17, 2026. The sophisticated operation leveraged artificial intelligence and social engineering to target crypto investors through fake wallet applications and impersonation scams.

The investigation revealed that attackers amassed datasets containing 885,000 phone numbers from various regions, with the largest file comprising 316,002 German mobile numbers. Using automated validation tools, the campaign sought to match these numbers with accounts on cryptocurrency platforms. The research found that 5,576 of the targeted numbers were matched to users of the Binance exchange, flagging them for direct attack. The operation also included tools specifically designed to bulk-validate phone numbers against Kraken accounts. From the German dataset alone, attackers identified 43,066 accounts linked to Crypto.com, representing a 13.6% hit rate.

The core of the campaign involved deploying counterfeit mobile and...