Analysts at BitMEX Analysis have raised the alarm a few rip-off focusing on early Bitcoin holders, notably these with wallets courting again to 2011.
In line with the agency, the rip-off seems to use long-dormant addresses by injecting false transactions and deceptive messages by way of OP_Return outputs, an elective area in Bitcoin transactions that may carry arbitrary knowledge.
In a single documented case, the scammers focused the well-known “1Feex” pockets, which holds round 80,000 BTC believed to have been stolen from Mt. Gox. The attackers crafted a message that hyperlinks victims to a fraudulent web site impersonating the defunct Wall Road agency Salomon Brothers.
The faux web site presents a authorized discover claiming the pockets is “misplaced or deserted.” It then invitations supposed house owners to show their declare by signing an on-chain message utilizing the personal key or submitting private documentation by an internet contact kind. If no response is obtained by Oct. 5, the discover states, the pockets shall be deemed legally deserted.
Pretend authorized claims
BitMEX warned that the web site reveals no credible hyperlink to the true Salomon Brothers or its former management. Whereas the positioning shows an inventory of actual people who as soon as labored on the agency, none seem like related to this new and certain fraudulent entity.
The platform described the strategy as paying homage to an earlier rip-off related to controversial figures like Calvin Ayre, who beforehand funded authorized motion involving the identical Bitcoin handle.
BitMEX Analysis acknowledged:
“The hyperlinks between this firm and this web site are faux. There’s a web page with an “advisory board” that comprises actual individuals who labored at Salomon Brothers within the Eighties, nevertheless, these folks appear to have no hyperlink to this new spurious entity.”
Group members have additionally weighed in, noting that reliable pockets house owners might merely transfer a small quantity of BTC to show exercise fairly than transferring the complete stability.
This has additionally led many to suspect the marketing campaign is a part of a broader social engineering rip-off effort designed to collect delicate data underneath a authorized pretext.
BitMEX emphasised that customers shouldn’t work together with the contact kind or present private particulars.
The emergence of those scams illustrates the rising complexity of crypto-related fraud. Within the first half of 2025 alone, hackers stole over $2.1 billion throughout 75 separate incidents, a ten% rise in comparison with the identical interval in 2024.
Talked about on this article
