Scammer Posed as Trump-Vance Official to Steal $250K in Crypto, DOJ Says
A Nigerian scammer impersonated Steve Witkoff, co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, to defraud 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 the transactions and recovered 40,300 USDT.ETH, which is now subject to civil forfeiture proceedings. Tether assisted in freezing the stolen funds. Experts highlighted the opportunistic nature of such scams, particularly as political support for crypto donations grows. They warned that AI and deepfake technology could enhance scam sophistication. Security analysts noted that phishing remains a prevalent tactic, exploiting human psychology rather than technical vulnerabilities. Scammers have historically used spoofed domains and links to execute fraud across various sectors.
