A scam involving a fake GIWA bridge has led to the theft of around $2 million in ETH, prompting compensation efforts from DYORSWAP.
A group of scammers has successfully executed a fraud scheme, stealing approximately 767 ETH, valued at around $2 million, through a counterfeit version of the GIWA Layer 2 network. They exploited the legitimate Chain ID 9134 to trick users into depositing funds into a fake bridge.
In response to the incident, the decentralized exchange DYORSWAP has taken action to compensate affected users, providing over 200 ETH from its reserves. The exchange clarified that this situation arose not from a breach of its contracts but rather from the acceptance of a fraudulent infrastructure that mimicked a legitimate project.
The perpetrators created a fake network using OP Stack and launched a bogus bridge that quickly attracted deposits. Analysis revealed that the funds were funneled through 1,335 different addresses, leading to a total of 767.65 ETH in transactions.
Initial deposits raised suspicions due to their uniformity—three transactions of exactly 0.4 ETH each made in a single block, suggesting they were likely controlled by the fraudsters.
A key moment in the scam occurred when about 766.25 ETH was withdrawn from the bridge. The GIWA project, operated by the centralized exchange Upbit, has emphasized that its mainnet is not yet live, warning users against engaging with any false claims regarding its RPC information.
"We DO NOT have our mainnet running currently. Please, check the contracts that you interact with and STAY SAFE," the GIWA team stated.
Developers have confirmed that the so-called GIWA Mainnet was a fabricated blockchain. They are currently collecting evidence, including chat logs and transaction data, to assist in the investigation.
GIWA is also preparing to compensate users affected by the scam from their treasury. Meanwhile, DYORSWAP has already provided restitution to impacted traders. Efforts are underway to trace the bridge's creator and investigate the flow of stolen funds.
This incident highlights the growing concern around cryptocurrency scams, with the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network reporting $12.7 billion in related operations between September 2023 and January 2026.
