Based Apparel Site Linked to Kash Patel Taken Offline After Alleged macOS Crypto-Stealing Malware Incident

A clothing e-commerce site associated with FBI Director Kash Patel was unreachable Friday after it was reportedly used to deliver malware aimed at stealing cryptocurrency from macOS users, CoinDesk reported. The site, identified as Based Apparel, allegedly relied on a social-engineering tactic that prompts visitors to manually copy and paste a Terminal command. The command was said to install a malicious program dubbed \u0022ClickFix,\u0022 which can harvest sensitive information including browser session tokens, local browsing data, and cryptocurrency wallet details. MetaMask has since labeled the site as \u0022potentially deceptive\u0022 and warned users about the risk of malicious transactions and asset theft. The report noted that PCMag previously replicated the technique. Decrypt said that when it attempted to verify the behavior, the page had been replaced with a message reading \u0022The store will be back online soon,\u0022 preventing further reproduction. Public records cited in the coverage indicate Based Apparel is jointly owned by Patel and Andrew Ollis, who is also listed as CEO and a board member of the Kash Foundation. The Kash Foundation\u0027s website states Patel is no longer affiliated with the nonprofit, which it says is not connected to any government agency, including the FBI. The extent of any losses remains unclear. Ahrefs data estimates the website draws about 33,600 visits per month. Infostealer-style malware is a common threat vector. Two months ago, the FBI said it was investigating multiple PC games on Steam that installed similar information-stealing malware.