Bitcoin holder scammed out of $91 million through social engineering

A Bitcoin investor lost 783 BTC worth approximately $91 million after scammers impersonating cryptocurrency exchange staff and hardware wallet support representatives tricked the victim into revealing access credentials. On-chain investigator ZachXBT disclosed the incident on August 21.

The stolen funds began moving through Wasabi Wallet on Aug. 20 – a day after the Aug. 19 theft – to obfuscate the trail. ZachXBT reported that the victim was targeted by groups of impostors. 

One group posed as representatives from a cryptocurrency exchange, while another claimed to be from a hardware wallet company. The combined social engineering attack convinced the victim to hand over sensitive information that enabled the massive transfer.

Blockchain data shows the stolen coins first moved to a new Bech32 address before being split into smaller amounts and routed through Wasabi Wallet across multiple deposits. The investigator did not identify the victim or specify which platforms the scammers impersonated.

ZachXBT found no evidence linking the theft to North Korea's Lazarus Group, despite the group's involvement in other major crypto heists. The attack happened exactly one year after a separate $243 million Genesis creditor theft, though no connection between the cases was established.

When asked about prevention, ZachXBT advised users to treat all unsolicited contact as suspicious. He recommended assuming any unexpected phone calls or emails are “scam by default.” The investigator declined to identify the victim or attribute the attack to any specific group.

Social engineering attacks rely on deception rather than technical exploits to trick victims into revealing recovery phrases, passwords, or approving harmful transactions. Recent months have seen multiple large-scale incidents involving impersonators claiming to represent known wallet brands and exchanges.

These scammers often contact targets through letters, emails, or phone calls, claiming urgent security updates are needed. They then request seed phrases or other sensitive information under pretenses. 

Investigators continue to track the stolen Bitcoin through mixing services, but recovery chances typically decrease once funds are broken into smaller pieces and passed through privacy tools.