Crypto Scammers Fall Victim to Each Other

Crypto scammers have finally found their thieving match: themselves.

A new scam has been circulating primarily on YouTube, showcasing a clever trap, according to security firm Kaspersky in a recent update.

One commonly found comment reads: “I have USDT stored in my wallet, and I have the seed phrase. How do I transfer my funds to another wallet?” This comment comes from a wallet containing over $8,000 worth of stablecoins on the Tron blockchain. A seed phrase is a series of words that provides access to a crypto wallet.

However, the inquiry was not from an inexperienced user, but rather a clever bait. The assets were held in a multi-signature wallet, which requires a gas fee to withdraw funds.

When scammers attempted to extract the funds by sending Tron’s TRX tokens to the wallet, the tokens disappeared into another wallet controlled by the scammers. The key to this scheme is that the bait wallet is structured as a multi-signature wallet. These wallets necessitate approval from two or more parties to authorize outgoing transactions. Thus, attempting to transfer USDT to a personal wallet results in it being redirected elsewhere.

Kaspersky noted, “The scammers are impersonating beginners who foolishly share access to their crypto wallets, tricking equally naive thieves — who end up becoming the victims. In this scenario, the scammers act somewhat like digital Robin Hoods, targeting other unscrupulous individuals.”

This isn’t an isolated incident; numerous online examples mirror these tactics. New accounts proliferate with similar comments, all enticing users with the same seed phrase. Gas fees are generally low, often under $10 across various blockchains, indicating the swindle targets wannabe thieves rather than executing a sophisticated scheme to steal substantial sums of money.

Nonetheless, any opportunity for a crypto criminal to profit remains a chance for exploitation.