tl;dr

A scammer in Nigeria impersonated Steve Witkoff, co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, and defrauded a donor of $250,000 in cryptocurrency by exploiting a subtle typo in an email address. The victim transferred 250,300 USDT.ETH to the scammer’s wallet on December 26, 2024. The FBI traced ...

A scammer in Nigeria impersonated Steve Witkoff, co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, and defrauded a donor of $250,000 in cryptocurrency by exploiting a subtle typo in an email address. The fraud took place when the victim received an email from "@t47lnaugural.com," where the letter "i" was replaced by a nearly identical lowercase "l," leading them to transfer 250,300 USDT.ETH, a stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain, to the scammer’s wallet on December 26, 2024.

The FBI traced the blockchain transactions and successfully recovered 40,300 USDT.ETH, which is now subject to civil forfeiture to compensate the victim. Tether, the issuer of USDT, aided authorities in freezing the stolen funds, echoing their recent involvement in seizing $225 million tied to “pig butchering” scams. This case highlights how scammers exploit political events and figures to deceive victims, combining public trust and crypto's irreversible nature to their advantage.

Security experts warn that such scams are becoming more plausible as political support for crypto donations grows, but they are not limited to cryptocurrency—they could also occur through fiat payments. The rise of AI and deepfake technologies threatens to increase the scale and sophistication of scams, necessitating cross-sector collaboration among law enforcement, regulators, tech companies, financial institutions, and the crypto industry.

Industry voices emphasize that phishing remains a primary tactic, relying on psychological tricks like fear, greed, and FOMO rather than technical hacks. Automated bots now enhance scam speed and reach by closely monitoring wallets and making quick fraudulent transactions. Despite the focus on crypto, the underlying vulnerabilities stem from longstanding weaknesses in domains, URLs, and VOIP technology, where identity verification is weak, enabling scams for over 25 years across both digital and traditional finance sectors.

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by the writers at Grow My Bag are their own and do not reflect the official stance of Grow My Bag. The content provided on our site is not intended as investment advice, and Grow My Bag is not an investment advisor. We do not endorse buying or selling any cryptocurrencies or digital assets mentioned in our articles. High-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, and digital assets require thorough due diligence, and all transfers and trades made are at your own risk. Grow My Bag is not responsible for any potential losses and participates in affiliate marketing.
 11 Jul 25
 11 Jul 25
 11 Jul 25