This is a popular type of scam with «address poisoning»/ address poisoning — when fraudsters create fake accounts with a fake cryptographic address that contains similar first and last characters to the real one.
One such transfer was recently detected by blockchain security firm CertiK, which noted that the victim lost $69.3 million, or about 97% of his assets on Coinbase.
Another company, Peckshield, clarified that the fraudsters exchanged the stolen bitcoins for 23,000 Ethereum and then transferred the funds to another address (according to The Daily Hodl, Ethereum is trading at $3116 per coin).
Specialists of the Trezor crypto platform recommend conduct small test transactions before sending a large amount of money and look closely at the digits of the address to which the transfer is made.
According to the FBI, in 2023, cryptocurrency-related frauds will include caused losses to the industry in the amount of $3.94 billion — more than three quarters of losses from investment fraud committed during the year.
Another report notes that the so-called «pig slaughter» / pig butchering fraud cost investors $75 million in 2020-2024. Criminals operating the scheme typically use social media or dating apps to identify potential victims — then establish a trusting (sometimes romantic) relationship with them, send small payments, and lure them into larger fake crypto investments.