Today a single user lost 3.09 MILLION worth of AEthUSDT tokens in NOW the largest drain of the year from Vanilla Drainer.

Below are the wallets used in the theft:

• 0x000003254C1ED68199AC4764Bb0f2d5254B00000 - Malicious Drainer Contract
• 0x89e572d07b2179bbce0341637cFb768182BC6fF1 - Attacker Wallet (Customer)
• 0x5371a49380c5F84efa95dAe434809Dc57Cd9B15E - Vanilla ADMIN
• 0x2d9817f2EE8D5951b95Fb29C5B472Adc2dC36695 - 3.09M User

I outlined this this drainer in a previous post and it's been on my radar ever since. Vanilla Drainer is one of many SaaS (Scams as a Service) Platforms out there. Typically there's an admin and a few developers working behind the scenes on the platform. In some instances, the admin and developer are the same person.

The SaaS platform provides the infrastructure for the client (The Customer) and takes a cut of the proceeds, usually between 15 - 25%. The Customer tends to be responsible for uploading the website assets and marketing.

How Did this Drain Happen?

https://preview.redd.it/5wcowfbqkbhf1.png?1504&format=png&auto=webp&s=f641356e9d0733baf063c90b68c38b27a475b776

This wallet drain follows similar patterns as previous drains. Typically a user interacts with a malicious website via Google Search or by Twitter. The website tricks the user into approving unlimited access to a token in their wallet. In this instance it was Aave Ethereum USDT.

Once approval is granted, the entire balance of the token is sent to a Malicious Contract. The contract then programmatically distributes the funds to the Customer and the ADMIN of the drainer (Vanilla Drainer).

In recent times, anti-phishing updates have implemented new technology to prevent drains like this from happening, but new updates to drainers themselves keep them one step ahead. I'm starting to see fresh malicious contracts created for every malicious website and domain to avoid staying on the radar of the good guys.

Following the Funds

Following the funds from the contract 0x000003254C1ED68199AC4764Bb0f2d5254B00000

Big drains like this on the blockchain don't go unnoticed by the community. At the time of this post, the drain is only hours old and the Customer has already moved the funds to another wallet.

The Customer's 2.62M of AEthUSDT was moved from 0x89e572 to 0xb1747F68064A44FA34330c30ecAD288CDEd603d5 where it currently sits in ETH. It's only a matter of time before the funds are laundered. So far no deposit addresses were used.

Interestingly, this Customer is responsible for a number of recent drains using Vanilla Drainer. Going back to 7/23/25, the largest amount taken by this Customer was about $5K USD up until today. I'm showing the assets the Customer is targeting tends to be some form of ETH, USDT, or USDC.

How to Prevent Drains from Happening to YOU

It's a dark forest out there and bad actors are coming up with innovative ways to take what isn't theirs (your crypto). 3.09 MILLION is retirement money for most but not for the phishers who have an endless appetite for stealing crypto. Wallet drains like today keep them motivated to keep changing up their methods.

Below are 3 steps to protect yourself from Malicious Contracts:

1. ALWAYS.CHECK.LINKS - Bookmark the links if you must but review and review some more when clicking links. A common mistake I see is Googling a website name and clicking on the first link that pops up. These tend to be Sponsored Links and scammers will pay to get their listing first.
2. Use a Disposable Wallet - Keep your main wallet away from Smart Contracts. Use burner wallets when engaging with risky activity.
3. Revoke Unnecessary Token Approvals - It's a good practice to revoke unused token approvals every few months. There's been a number of incidents (I've posted a few here) of a user getting drained days apart because the malicious approved was never revoked.

Stay safe out there!