The longest scheme of cryptocurrency fraud lasts for months, but brings millions. How does it work?


В целом кражи криптовалют можно разделить на две разновидности. В первом случае из жертвы выбиваются ключи доступа к кошельку с активами, после чего проводятся соответствующие транзакции. Во втором жертва самостоятельно расстаётся со своими деньгами, делая это осознанно или нет.

The most popular example of the latter scenario is the so-called crypto distribution campaigns. In them, scammers are trying to impersonate a celebrity and at the same time advertise the distribution of coins of unprecedented generosity. The only condition here is the need to send a crypt to the specified address, ostensibly to confirm the address. In response, the victim is promised to send at least twice the amount of digital assets, but in fact, all the money remains with the scammers.

Today we will talk about a scheme that does not provide an instant result. However, in case of success, scammers receive huge sums, because here they aim at wealthy developers and other representatives of Silicon Valley. The secret of the scheme is the ingredient of romance.

How cryptocurrencies are stolen

The current type of fraud is called “pig slaughter”. Why? The fact is that before the direct theft of crypto assets of the victim, scammers spend several weeks or months, as if “feeding” it. This is necessary to create the illusion of a trusting relationship, which ultimately allows you to rob the victim.

Loss of money on cryptocurrencies

The divorce scheme is simple: scammers are active in dating applications, aiming at the inhabitants of Silicon Valley. After finding the victim, there comes a phase of long correspondence, which simulates the birth of a relationship. As a result, it all comes down to the need to convince the victim to invest in a certain cryptocurrency either with the help of a fake version of the popular blockchain platform, or even by sending funds to the address of fraudsters.


Отметим, что копий различных децентрализованных приложений действительно хватает. Чаще всего они рекламируются в выдаче поисковых систем по типу Гугла, причём их URL-адрес может отличаться одними-двумя схожими символами. Задача мошенников здесь — заставить жертву подключить свой кошелёк к платформе, после чего активы достаточно быстро исчезают с адреса.


According to Cointelegraph sources, scammers conduct correspondence in encrypted chats in order to preserve the ability to delete messages after the theft of funds. Well, the scam itself is designed for both men and women. And while the deception seems too simple, it does work.

In particular, representatives of the newspaper The San Francisco Examiner reported on two victims of the scam, who for the purposes of anonymity were designated as Cy and R. For two, they lost cryptocurrency equivalent to $ 2.5 million.

R’s case is particularly entertaining, as she is an IT manager in Northern California. That is, the victim was at odds with technology, but still bought into the divorce scheme. The amount of losses in this case amounted to 1.3 million dollars.

Cryptocurrency Hacker

As the victim shared, the scammers contacted her via LinkedIn. Then the conversation flowed into WhatsApp, and it lasted several months. As a result, we talked about investments with the help of the site, the interaction with which turned into the loss of cryptocurrencies. Here’s the victim’s remark.

I would never have thought that this would happen to me, because I understand technology. I write the software myself.

At the same time, the victim under the pseudonym Cy is a real estate agent. The amount of losses amounted to 1.2 million dollars, and after the loss, Cy thought about suicide and eventually sought psychiatric help. Here’s a rejoinder.

I lost more than just money. I lost my self-confidence and ruined my family’s life.


Отметим, что в нише криптовалют есть и другие варианты обмана, которые могут лишить криптоактивов спустя длительный промежуток времени. В частности, речь идёт о краже фразы восстановления — уникальной комбинации из 12, 18 или 24 слов, которая позволяет восстановить доступ к определённому криптовалютному адресу.

Sometimes scammers may not give themselves away and wait for months before the victim’s balance increases to more significant amounts. That is, in fact, they use the recovery phrase to access the contents of the address, after which they banally observe the situation. And when the time comes, scammers conduct transactions and steal money.

Cryptocurrency scammers


Мы считаем, что эти случаи являются крайне важными. Они доказывают, что на уловку мошенников могут попасть даже знатоки технологий, которые давно используют цифровые активы. В связи с этим инвесторам нужно всегда оставаться начеку и быть готовым к вниманию скамеров. Главное в этом деле — не доверять незнакомцам и не переходить по ссылкам, которые они присылают.