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Record scam: 26.4 bitcoin from one investor by impersonating Michael Saylor
 I'll double your money: this trick will never get old 17.Jan.22 5:53 PM By I'll double your money: this trick will never get old Photo Pinterest |
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A bitcoiner lost 26.4 bitcoin on Saturday to online scammers posing as Michael Saylor, the CEO of MicroStrategy. These bitcoins are worth 986,357 euros at the current rate. Whale Alert keeps an eye on known scam addresses and shared the news first. Whale Alert calls it a nightmare come true. They write ‘this scam received the largest payment ever for a fake giveaway. We suspect that this payment was made through a Coinbase address.’ One of the most popular and effective forms of scams, is if the scammer promises to return several times the amount of cryptocurrency that the victims send to them. Giveaway scammers pose as a famous person or represent a trusted company to gain the trust of the victim and are usually active on YouTube, Telegram and Twitter. Whale Alert says that this scam took place via a website and via YouTube. The scam used video material and the name of Michael Saylor. The YouTube channel has since been taken offline and a visit to the website yields an error message. The 26,4 BTC was sent to the primary scam address in five transactions, according to a survey of the payments. At the current bitcoin rate, the loot is worth 986,357 euros. This scam uses the identity of Michael Saylor, but often enough other names are also used. For example, Elon Musk is also often used for this. A while ago during the launch of the PlayStation 5, there was a scam that promised you a PS5 if you were to transfer ethereum. This is also not the first time that Saylor's identity has been misused for a scam. In November, someone sent almost 3 bitcoin (110, 000 euros) to another giveaway. Last year, Whale Alert released another report on cryptoscams. They concluded that it is easy for cybercriminals to find gullible victims. Their scams are credible, professional and aggressive. Whale Alert says this is because ‘bitcoin scams are virtually risk-free, there is an extremely low chance that perpetrators will be caught.’ In 2020, even the Twitter accounts of famous people were taken over. These included the accounts of US presidential candidate Joe Biden, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, former president Barack Obama, Geert Wilders and rapper Kanye West. They all tweeted at the same time that if you send their bitcoin, they will double this amount. | |
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