5 hours ago
Analysts astatine BitMEX Research person raised the alarm astir a scam targeting aboriginal Bitcoin holders, peculiarly those with wallets dating backmost to 2011.
According to the firm, the scam appears to exploit long-dormant addresses by injecting mendacious transactions and misleading messages via OP_Return outputs, an optional tract successful Bitcoin transactions that tin transportation arbitrary data.
In 1 documented case, the scammers targeted the well-known “1Feex” wallet, which holds astir 80,000 BTC believed to person been stolen from Mt. Gox. The attackers crafted a connection that links victims to a fraudulent website impersonating the defunct Wall Street steadfast Salomon Brothers.
The fake tract presents a ineligible announcement claiming the wallet is “lost oregon abandoned.” It past invites expected owners to beryllium their assertion by signing an on-chain connection utilizing the backstage cardinal oregon submitting idiosyncratic documentation done a web interaction form. If nary effect is received by Oct. 5, the announcement states, the wallet volition beryllium deemed legally abandoned.
Fake ineligible claims
BitMEX warned that the website shows nary credible nexus to the existent Salomon Brothers oregon its erstwhile leadership. While the tract displays a database of existent individuals who erstwhile worked astatine the firm, nary look to beryllium associated with this caller and apt fraudulent entity.
The level described the attack arsenic reminiscent of an earlier scam associated with arguable figures similar Calvin Ayre, who antecedently funded ineligible enactment involving the aforesaid Bitcoin address.
BitMEX Research stated:
“The links betwixt this institution and this website are fake. There is simply a leafage with an “advisory board” that contains existent radical who worked astatine Salomon Brothers successful the 1980s, however, these radical look to person nary nexus to this caller spurious entity.”
Community members person besides weighed in, noting that morganatic wallet owners could simply determination a tiny magnitude of BTC to beryllium enactment alternatively than transferring the afloat balance.
This has besides led galore to fishy the run is portion of a broader social engineering scam effort designed to stitchery delicate accusation nether a ineligible pretext.
BitMEX emphasized that users should not interact with the interaction signifier oregon supply idiosyncratic details.
The emergence of these scams illustrates the increasing complexity of crypto-related fraud. In the archetypal fractional of 2025 alone, hackers stole implicit $2.1 billion crossed 75 abstracted incidents, a 10% emergence compared to the aforesaid play successful 2024.
The station Scam targets dormant Bitcoin wallets with fake ineligible notice appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.
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