ELUSIVE COMET Strikes: Emblem Vault CEO’s Crypto Wiped Out After Zoom Call

The attack was carried out by a group called "ELUSIVE COMET", and it began during a video call arranged through Zoom.

On April 11, Gallen posted on X that his computer had been fully compromised, which led to the loss of Bitcoin BTC $84,159.71 and Ethereum ETH $1,582.60 from multiple wallets. He later added that he was working with a cybersecurity company, The Security Alliance (SEAL), to investigate the situation.

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SEAL had already been tracking ELUSIVE COMET, which they said targets crypto users through social tricks and malware.

The scam started when Gallen received a message from a verified X account that claimed to be the founder of a crypto mining project. Gallen agreed to a Zoom interview with the person, and during the call, the scammer convinced Gallen to install malware on his device, which SEAL later identified as "GOOPDATE".

The malware gave the attacker access to Gallen’s computer and let them steal login details and crypto wallet information.

Gallen explained that this worked because Zoom allows the host of a call to request remote access from other participants—and that setting is turned on by default unless manually changed.

The hackers also got into Gallen’s Ledger wallet—even though he said he had only logged into it a few times over the past three years and had never stored the password digitally.

Meanwhile, KiloEX, a decentralized crypto trading platform, recently suffered a $7.5 million loss due to a security breach. How did the team respond? Read the full story.