A Brooklyn-based crypto police unit has seized a scam network’s email list and used it to warn more than 1,200 potential victims.

The Virtual Currency Unit used the new technique to bring down the network whose members posed as financial advisers from “stocks-finance.com” to target the borough’s Russian community.

The scheme is estimated to have netted $1 million from victims in Brooklyn and $5 million throughout the US.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced the conclusion of the investigation yesterday which resulted in the shutdown of 70 fraudulent domains. 

“For the first time anywhere in this type of probe, Brooklyn prosecutors were able to execute warrants to seize and take control of the server, cutting off the scammers from the victims, their contact lists, and address books,” the press release claimed.

Read more: Austrian crypto scammers blew thousands on clubbing, hookers, shark tank

Gonzalez said, “Since recovering lost funds is often impossible because they’re typically quickly cashed overseas, we focus on disruption and education.” 

Two weeks ago, the same police crypto unit announced that it had shut down 40 phony NFT marketplaces after it was tipped off by an 85-year-old painter who had lost their life savings. 

The painter was scammed out of $135,000 by somebody pretending to be an art dealer who wanted to convert his art into NFTs. The scammer claimed that the victim’s NFTs had made $300,000 and that the exorbitant sum was needed to access these profits.

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A major crypto romance scam operation in Nigeria that targeted North Americans and Europeans has been raided by police, with nearly 800 suspects arrested.

Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) said that the seven-story Big Leaf Building in Lagos was stormed on December 10, where 792 suspected fraudsters were arrested.

Chinese nationals made up 148 of the arrests, the EFCC said, while 40 were Filipino. Computers, phones, and cars were also seized in the raid.

The suspects are believed to have run a major crypto scam in Nigeria that contacted victims through social media. After seduction, they were told of exciting crypto investment opportunities that falsely promised great returns.

Read more: Football legends Ronaldinho, Luis Figo sued for Omegapro crypto scam promo

“Nigerian accomplices were recruited by the foreign kingpins to prospect for victims online through phishing,” said EFCC spokesperson Wilson Uwujaren, “targeting mostly Americans, Canadians, Mexicans and several others from European countries.”

“Once the Nigerians are able to win the confidence of would-be victims, the foreigners would take over the actual task of defrauding the victims.” Uwujaren added (via Reuters).

According to the Commission, the crypto scam operation in Nigeria mostly targeted Canadians, Americans, Mexicans, and Europeans.

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On Saturday, $7 million were reportedly seized from the home of a crypto entrepreneur in Romania, during a high-profile investigation into financing election fraud.

36-year-old Bogdan Peșchir is best known by his TikTok handle “bogpr” for handing out bundles of cash to fellow creators. However, Peschir has made headlines for allegedly sending $381,000 to various TikTok accounts that have relentlessly promoted Romania’s surprise presidential front-runner, Călin Georgescu.

Far-right, pro-Russian independent Georgescu abruptly appeared on Romania’s political stage just weeks before the first voting round in late November. About 25,000 TikTok accounts with a combined following of 8 million were suddenly dedicated to promoting this obscure, anti-NATO engineer.

Weeks later, over 9.4 million Romanians cast their first ballots; Georgescu shocked the nation when he came out on top.

His sudden popularity has been categorized as Russian interference by Romania’s president Klaus Iohannis, who together with the US believes Georgescu unlawfully gained electoral coverage when campaigning wasn’t allowed. As a result, Romania has halted the second round of voting and has launched a full-scale investigation into election fraud.

The hunt has led to Peșchir, who’s suspected of spending €1 million ($1.05 million) financing Georgescu’s campaign with criminal, money-laundered funds.

Romania’s Supreme Council of National Defense has released records that say between October 24 and November 24, Peșchir “made payments worth $381,000 […] to users of some TikTok accounts involved in promoting [Georgescu], including after the end of the electoral campaign.” This would be in violation of Romanian law.

However, Peșchir insists his donations were independent and not tied to any agreements. He emphasized his support for Georgescu was voluntary and accused the media of harassment — even threatening to sue.

Read more: Romanian Hells Angels leader used bitcoin for drugs and murder, Texas jury finds

Only, the TikToker’s ties to cryptocurrency have raised further questions. His business dealings include associations with BitXATM, a Romanian crypto ATM firm that suffered a theft scandal in 2016. Its founder, Gabrial Prodanescu, accused a former employee of the crime. Peșchir later testified at the trial, which ended in the man’s conviction.

BitXATM stopped updating its website and several users claimed they lost their funds. Prodanescu then opened another crypto firm in the UK under the same name, along with an extra called Globaya LTD. Peșchir is listed as an employee of Globaya.

Authorities are also concerned that Peșchir’s declared income is inconsistent with his luxurious lifestyle, which includes driving a Porsche and a BMW. The TikToker denies this, saying “I have income from other sources, completely legal, that are declared and taxed.”

As for the accusations of financing Georgescu’s controversial rise, he maintains that he did nothing wrong. “I don’t even know [Georgescu] personally,” Peșchir said, “and I don’t feel that endorsing a cause that I support is unethical.”

“The attacks on the system […] motivate me even more to support Călin Georgescu,” he added.

The Kremlin denies interfering in Romania’s elections, classifying it as an “unprecedented outburst of anti-Russian hysteria.”

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On Thursday afternoon, Donald Trump Jr. asked for America’s help in identifying the suspected shooter of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. After posting just two photos of the suspect, at-home sleuths sprung to action.

Don Jr.’s screenshot quickly led to false accusations that, based on mere resemblance and a fabricated tweet, crypto influencer Gainzy could have been the shooter. 

Failing to cite the New York Police Department’s Crime Stoppers program or WANTED notice, Don Jr. simply encouraged random allegations against a variety of innocent individuals. Free to use AI, Photoshop, and all manner of doctored media created earned engagement on social media and civilians joined the finger-pointing spree.

The algorithm duly rewarded them for their efforts.

Gainzy looks kind of like the guy… that was enough?

Commenters posted dozens of low-effort accusations that fell flat on their face. Soon, however, one savvy X user, 0xRacist, went a step further, fabricating a clever s***post that has earned nearly 6 million impressions.

0xRacist fingered Gainzy — a popular crypto trader who was in Tel Aviv at the time of Thompson’s assassination — as the shooter. The made-at-home allegation featured a side-by-side photo of Crime Stoppers camera footage and a social media image of Gainzy who bears a slight, imperfect resemblance to the suspect.

Read more: Crypto security firms more concerned with social media clout than the details

Many were fooled. Inversebrah memorialized the event. Intelligent members of the crypto community laughed at how easy it is to farm engagement from X using false information.

Some crypto celebrities like Laura Shin and Udi Wertheimer considered the allegation so obviously false that they played along for fun, given that Gainzy was on the other side of the world during the incident.

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The murder trial of Cash App founder Bob Lee is finally wrapping up. Accused of the crime, tech consultant Nima Momeni says he acted in self-defense.

A bad joke “just set him off,” Momeni told the jury. “I was in fear for my life.”

Momeni claims he deflected Lee’s oncoming knife, pinned his arm back into his chest twice, until he let go. Then, Lee walked away.

Video surveillance, however, appears to show Momeni stabbing Lee. Text messages and witness testimony suggest that Momeni believed Lee was responsible for his sister’s alleged sexual assault.

Now that both the prosecution and the defense have rested their case, the jury will decide if Momeni is guilty of murder. Here’s how the entire case unfolded.

April 3, 2023: The night Bob Lee died

Momeni and Lee were introduced through Momeni’s sister, Khazar, just a few days before his death. On April 3, Khazar and Lee went to the home of a man named Jeremy Boivin.

“I did not know he’s a drug dealer,” Khazar later told the jury, “as we don’t get close to our drug dealers or invite them upstairs, even. He was introduced to me [by Lee] as a friend.”

Lee soon wanted to leave with Khazar, but she refused. So, Lee left while she stayed behind and willingly took the date rape drug Boivin offered.

“He brought me a big tank of nitrous, and he had a big bottle of a liter of GHB,” Khazar said. “He gave me, like, this sweet little drink, a little shot. And I drank it.”

“I thought I could trust him,” Khazar said on the stand.

“I remember waking up twice: One time he pulled down my pants and slapped my ass. And another time he grabbed my ass, but I couldn’t move or do anything.”

In a panic, Khazar called her brother. Nima Momeni came to pick her up, and she confided in him about the assault. “I was shocked at how mature he was about it,” she said, describing him as calm and measured.

However, text messages from that night show Momeni was furious — and held Lee responsible.

Read more: MobileCoin exec Bob Lee stabbed to death in San Francisco attack

Later that evening, Lee and Momeni were together at Khazar’s home in Millennium Tower. The siblings maintain that everything was friendly. Lee got a ride in Momeni’s car around 2am and they drove to the Rincon Hill neighborhood, where surveillance footage shows a man who looks like Momeni stabbing a man resembling Lee. 

Momeni left in his white BMW; Lee staggered down the street, collapsed, and died.

In the days that follow, Momeni hired criminal defense attorney Paula Canny and private investigator Brian Hedley.

On April 13, Nima Momeni was arrested.

Early days of the Bob Lee murder case

May 3, 2023: Nima Momeni pleads not guilty. However, the judge rules Momeni will remain in custody without bail.

May 4, 2023: Momeni’s missing phone becomes a point of contention. Prosecutors are keen to investigate, believing it may contain key evidence related to the case. Canny dismisses its absence as inconsequential, calling it a coincidence; that the missing phone was not a deliberate attempt to destroy evidence.

Meanwhile, Momeni’s mother, sister, and brother-in-law secure their own legal team.

May 30, 2023: The court is surprised to learn that Momeni’s lawyer Canny has been fired. Prominent attorneys Bradford Cohen and Saam Zangeneh, who have previously represented rappers Drake and Vanilla Ice, replace her.

Canny expresses disappointment but tells reporters, “Shit happens in representing people. It’s just like that, you know?”

Evidence dictates the case will go to trial — but will it be fair?

July 31, 2023: The preliminary hearing begins. The defense questions the prosecution’s suggested premeditated, “honor killing” motive.

Why was the knife never fingerprinted, the defense further questions? A police officer explains that the knife’s handle was rubber, rendering fingerprint analysis impractical.

It’s noted that a homeless man at the scene of the crime wasn’t questioned by police. The defense asks if critical evidence may have been overlooked.

August 1, 2023: A judge rules that Nima Momeni’s case will go to trial. Simply put, there’s too much evidence to dismiss the case.

November 30, 2023: Momeni’s lawyers try to argue that a trial wouldn’t be fair. They file a motion to move the trial out of San Francisco on the grounds that the city’s large population of techies view Lee as a “celebrity.”

In their eyes, an unfavorable image of him in jail, published by the San Francisco Standard, have also deemed the case unfair. However, the news outlet maintains the photograph was first cleared with Momeni’s legal team.

March 15, 2024: The request to move the trial out of the city is denied. A survey shows that while many locals were aware of the case, few had strong opinions.

Court learns Momeni reenacted stabbing, sent curious texts

September 6, 2024: New evidence is presented by the District Attorney’s Office, casting doubt on Momeni’s self-defense claim. A video filmed in a public parking lot on April 10, 2023, shows Momeni making three stabbing motions while speaking to a private investigator — which prosecutors say are the same as the stab wounds Lee suffered days prior.

They point out that Momeni doesn’t indicate a struggle in this reenactment.

The jury then hears details of Khazar’s alleged sexual assault. Text messages are shown in which Momeni tells his sister he had “started preparing for the rape case against both of them” — possibly meaning Lee and Boivin.

The prosecution also claims that Momeni’s text messages after Lee’s death are damning. He seemingly attempted to cover his tracks by writing to his sister, “I don’t know what [Lee] ended up doing at the bar or strip club, I just came home.” Of course, videos placed the pair together in Rincon Hill.

And when Khazar writes to her brother on April 5 that she will “get to the bottom of this and find out what happened to bob” and asks “where [did you] drop him off,” Momeni dodges the question.

September 18, 2024: Three major wins for the prosecution: Lee’s nickname ‘Crazy Bob,’ large chunks of evidence from his phone, and a motion to exclude the murder weapon are removed from the case. The defense was using Lee’s nickname to support the story that he was the aggressor instead of Momeni.

Read more: Woman allegedly offered bitcoin and sex for murder

The Bob Lee murder trial begins

October 14: In opening statements, both sides present their different versions of events to a packed courtroom.

October 15: A 911 call from Lee in his final moments is played, and investigators testify about the blood trail and evidence collected at the scene.

The defense again questions why the homeless man wasn’t interviewed.

October 16: Borzoyeh Mohazzabi, close friend of Lee, testifies he overheard Lee on the phone with Momeni. Lee was “interrogated” by Momeni about the perceived sexual assault on Khazar.

October 17: Khazar takes the stand. Questioned by prosecutors, she denies that her brother killed Lee and maintains Jeremy Bovin sexually assaulted her on the night of April 3.

October 22: Khazar reiterates that Lee never touched her. She says that her brother and Lee “liked each other” when asked by prosecutors if there was “any kind of bad blood” between them in the hour and a half they spent together before Lee’s death.

She describes Lee as “all over the place” and “aggressive” in the days before April 3.

Khazar also said that she had been sexually assaulted by her father.

Bob Lee’s ex-wife thrown out of court, defense asks for mistrial

October 23: Lee’s ex-wife Krista is barred from the courtroom after accusing Khazar of playing the victim on the stand. In the hallway during a break, Krista had words about Khazar’s claim that Lee’s family had intimidated her during the trial.

“Our family is the one that got murdered,” Krista says. “She can go fuck herself.”

The judge was previously asked to banish Lee’s ex-wife for referring to Khazar as “the whore of high tower,” which was refused. Today’s outburst does the trick.

Meanwhile, on the stand, Khazar admits that her memory of the events are foggy because she was under the influence of several drugs, including GHB. However, she insists that she is still able to remember pivotal moments.

October 31: San Francisco police criminalist Alain Oyafuso takes the stand to explain the DNA analysis in simple terms. Oyafuso confirms that most of the DNA on the blade of the knife matched Lee’s, while most of the DNA on the handle matched Momeni’s.

However, small doubts were cast because both the handle and the blade contained small traces of low-quality DNA from another source. This raises questions from Momeni’s lawyers.

November 4: Jurors are shown the video captured in the days following Bob Lee’s death, in which Momeni is seen reenacting the stabbing.

In the video, Momeni is seen making three stabbing motions — two toward the lower body and one higher at shoulder level — as he talks to Brian Hedley, the private investigator he hired. Momeni makes a throwing motion, which prosecutors suggest imitates how he discarded the knife.

Defense attorneys object to the video being presented, arguing that it violates attorney-client privilege and was recorded on private property. But the judge rules in favor of the prosecution.

November 5: Lead investigator Sgt. Brent Dittmer testifies that in the days following Lee’s death, Momeni’s brother-in-law searched online for ways to erase iPhones. Dittmer found this suspicious — particularly because Momeni had already given his phone to his lawyer and both Momeni and his sister had received new phones.

November 6: Momeni’s attorneys ask for a mistrial on the grounds that lead investigator Dittmer said — unprompted — that Momeni has never been out on bond. This information may taint the jury, the defense argues, because it implies he’s in jail. Jurors are typically shielded from this kind of information.

The judge denies the motion.

Nima Momeni takes the stand

November 7: Momeni’s defense team opens its arguments. DNA expert Dr. Greg Hampikian challenges the DNA evidence presented by the prosecution.

According to Hampikian, a key footnote was omitted from their report. This footnote, he testified, would have changed the interpretation of Momeni’s DNA match to the knife handle.

The defense also presented testimony from Aranza Villegas, the friend of Khazar who was with her at Jeremy Boivin’s home on April 3. She confirmed that Momeni appeared calm when he came to pick up his sister.

November 13: The defense continues its arguments by introducing forensic pathologist Dr. John Marraccini to the stand. He testifies that the stab wounds Lee sustained were consistent with Momeni’s claim of self-defense.

Marraccini believes that the shallow knife wound on Lee’s hip suggests that Lee was trying to stab Momeni. But he also acknowledged other scenarios, including the prosecution’s theory.

Later, Nima Momeni’s testimony begins. He tells the jury that Lee attacked him because he suggested that he should be at home with his family instead of “fucking around in strip clubs.” Lee’s ex-wife and two kids live near San Francisco; Lee was in town for a few days before heading home to Florida.

The comment “just set him off,” Momeni claims. “I was in fear for my life.”

“He’s yelling, cussing at me, starts going around, circling, moving around me, then gets in my face,” he said.

Momeni says he deflected Lee’s oncoming knife, pinned his arm back into his chest twice, until he let go. Then, Lee walked away.

“He was just casually walking away on his phone, just texting or whatever he was doing.” Momeni maintains he had no idea his friend was injured.

Read more: Cash App facilitates donations for extremist groups

As for Momeni’s actions after that night, he says he found out Lee had died on the morning of April 5, leading him to contact a lawyer and investigator for advice. And when asked about the reenactment video, Momeni claims he was actually reenacting Lee.

Momeni insists he was never angry with anyone on April 3 and that he “never” had any ill will towards Lee.

“I feel awful, to his family, to himself. He didn’t deserve it, I don’t think anybody deserves that. I don’t know why that had to happen.”

November 14: Momeni faces a contentious cross-examination. Prosecutor Talai attempts to poke holes in Momeni’s narrative. Momeni gets combative, evasive, and emotional on the stand.

Defense rests sans bombshell, trial comes to a close

November 19: Retired SFPD officer Steve Pomatto testifies that Momeni likely acted in self-defense. However, the prosecution questions his credibility, and highlights that Pomatto had earned nearly $10,000 for being a key witness to Momeni’s defense. While on the stand for two days, he was being paid $400 per hour.

Later in court, the defense rests its case — but fails to deliver on a promise that bombshell evidence will be revealed. Instead, his lawyers say it’ll come in closing arguments.

“We’re gonna tie it all up in closing,” Momeni’s lawyer Saam Zangeneh said. “There’s going to be some explosions in closing.”

Closing arguments are scheduled for December 2.

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Allegations of a $78 million crypto fraud and a police raid are rocking Assembly elections in India’s Maharashtra state, which are underway at press time.

Maharashtra is India’s wealthiest state and home to the country’s financial capital, Mumbai. The ruling Mahayuti alliance, which includes prime minister Narendra Modi’s BJP party, faces main opposition from the MVA, a coalition that includes the NCP (SP).

Just days before polling opened, a former police officer accused MP Supriya Sule of the NCP (SP) of misappropriating seized bitcoin to fund its election campaign. They claim that Sule and state Congress chief Nana Patole took bitcoin that had been confiscated by police from a 2018 fraud case.

• In 2018, crypto dealer Amit Bharadwaj was arrested by Pune police and his wallet containing Rs 6,600 crore ($78 million) was seized.
• The whistleblower claims that former Pune Police Commissioner, Amitabh Gupta, instructed the wallet to be swapped out.
• Sule and Patole allegedly got hold of the original wallet and sold the bitcoin to influence the elections.

BJP shares voice clips of Sule, sparking lawsuit and AI debate

Modi’s BJP party soon echoed these allegations. BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi shared videos and voice recordings claiming to show Sule and those involved discussing these crypto transactions.

On Wednesday, Sule’s cousin and Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar said that the voice recordings were authentic and called for a formal investigation to begin.

“I know the voices of Supriya Sule and Nana Patole very well,” Pawar said. “The voices in the audio clips belong to both of them.”

Read more: India disconnects 20M phone numbers in ‘cyberslave’ crackdown

Sule, daughter of prominent politician and cricket chief Sharad Pawar, has denied the allegations. “Ajit Pawar can say anything,” she hit back. She claims the voice recordings are false, and has filed a criminal cyber fraud complaint against the former police officer who initially accused her.

“They have apparently attempted to create a fake voice of [Sule] to add fake credibility to their allegations,” the complaint reads. “This amounts to criminal impersonation […] with an intent to defraud and defame.”

Across X, onlookers appear divided over the authenticity of the recordings. Side-by-side comparisons by prominent fact-checker Mohammed Zubair suggest that the voices follow a rigid, monotonous rhythm compared to audio from other sources, which may suggest that AI was involved.

The Maharashtra Assembly elections are still underway at press time, with a recorded 45.53% voter turnout as of 3pm.

During the polling, police raided the home of the man accused of assisting Sule and Patole in the bitcoin theft at the alleged instruction of the Pune Police Commissioner.

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Around 100 investors in a Mexican crypto trading bot scheme that promised “daily payouts” and claimed to operate its own “crypto credit card” have filed an official complaint with public prosecutors after the firm disappeared, shuttering its physical offices, and blocking withdrawals.

As reported by Milenio, Tehuacán and Puebla-based AMG GPT allegedly lured more than 3,000 people into buying trading bots — with prices starting at 400 pesos — “for a set time period” in return for seemingly guaranteed returns.

However, while some users initially reported making money from their investments, the regular payouts didn’t last and many started to report “constant delays” when trying to access their funds.

They were apparently told by AMG staff that they would need to “pay verification fees” if they wanted to access their money and when users attempted to visit the company in person, they found all four of its offices shuttered.

According to Mexican journalist, Carolina Espinosa River, “The offices in Tehuacán have completely disappeared, leaving the premises empty.

“Although some supposed ‘leaders’ have been identified, they have also claimed to be victims of fraud. They state that they do not know who is responsible for the scheme.”

AMG also ran numerous promotional events and giveaways, including raffles that were supposedly giving away iPhones and Teslas. However, much like users’ funds, these prizes weren’t forthcoming.

Read more: Austrian crypto scammers blew thousands on clubbing, hookers, shark tank

Before disappearing, the company issued a statement that claimed the delays were caused by a “shopping festival” event that would provide investors with “generous rewards,” however, users simply claimed that this muddied the waters further.

It also said that worried users were required to apply for a special credit card called “Crypto-VISA.”

However, people who purchased these cards have since reported that they were asked for codes that drained their accounts.

It’s thought that AMG collapsed when it was unable to sustain the influx of new investors drawn in by recommendations from existing users who had benefitted — or thought they had benefitted — from the scheme.

One unfortunate victim told River, “It is urgent that this information be known, that the authorities take action on the matter, because they scammed a lot of people. They got a lot of people into a lot of trouble, including me and my family.

“Right now we are in debt, we don’t have money to pay, we owe a lot of money to people, friends, family, we are all very upset.

“We don’t know what to do, they are not giving us our money back, they are turning a blind eye and are running away with all the money.”

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In just over 15 hours, three unlucky crypto users lost a total of $876,000 worth of assets to common on-chain scams.

A combination of techniques, specifically ‘approval phishing’ and ‘address poisoning,’ were used in the scams, which were spotted by X (formerly Twitter) account Scam Sniffer.

The first, and largest, of the thefts was caused by a user signing a malicious ‘permit’ transaction, allowing the scammer to steal 211 Lido-staked ether (stETH) worth $654,000.

Read more: Compound Finance and Celer Network websites compromised in ‘front-end’ attacks

Phishing with drainers

According to Scam Sniffer, the address to which the victim had inadvertently granted approval to move their stETH was “a malicious contract disguised as a Token.” These dangerous permit or approval transactions are often presented to users by scam-as-as-service malware packages called wallet ‘drainers.’

The drainers are often disseminated via hacked X (formerly Twitter) accounts, which can be used to post FOMO-stoking airdrop or token launch announcements, before linking the victim to a wallet drainer script.

Prolific blockchain detective ZachXBT described the typical workings of such groups, who take control of accounts via SIM-swapping, in a post on X last year.

Another method is via so-called ‘front-end’ attacks, in which the genuine domains of crypto platforms are hijacked to craft malicious transactions and serve drainers to potential victims’ wallets. 

Drainer packages themselves are developed as a product or service to be used by the phishing scammers. A cut of each theft is automatically split between the drainer developers and the scammers that use them.

This model has proven to be extremely profitable. In May, when a prolific drainer service known as Pink Drainer announced its retirement after facilitating $75 million worth of thefts, crypto security firm SlowMist identified over $20 million held in related addresses.

Inferno Drainer, which shut down a year ago, has been cashing out its ill-gotten gains recently, sending a total of 4,010 ETH (currently worth $12.4 million) to sanctioned crypto mixer Tornado Cash. Previous attempts to use alternative privacy tool Railgun were blocked by the team.

Read more: Pink Drainer ‘steps back from the grind’ after stealing $75M from victims

Address poisoning scam

The other two victims lost similar amounts (111,500 and 111,726) of the USDT stablecoin to ‘address poisoning,’ a type of scam which, while much simpler, proves equally dangerous.

Address poisoning relies on victims accidentally copy/pasting a scammer’s address from a ‘contaminated’ transaction history on a blockchain explorer such as Etherscan.

Read more: Refund of $70M ‘address poisoning’ scam ongoing, over 50% returned

Often, following sizable transfers, fake versions of common tokens will suddenly appear in a potential victim’s address, or appear as ‘spoofed’ transfers to accounts with similar leading and trailing characters to the genuine address (as can be seen in Scam Sniffer’s screenshot above).

Despite efforts to hide these misleading transactions by the explorer’s developers, losses are still common. For higher-value victims, scammers even opt to send genuine tokens as a workaround, putting real money on the line whilst hoping to hook a big win.

Staying off the hook

As always, double-check the URL or X account handles before clicking any links or connecting a crypto wallet. However, this may not be enough in the case that the genuine website or account has been compromised.

Learn how approvals and permits work. It is important to maintain strict ‘approval hygiene,’ revoking any active approvals and avoiding setting or accepting ‘infinite’ approvals when prompted.

Additionally, the use of built-in wallet address books can flag any unexpected addresses involved in a transaction which may be harder to spot by eye. These addresses can then be re-used instead of copying from a (potentially contaminated) transfer history.

Don’t rush, and don’t sign anything you don’t understand

Despite these well-known security measures, plenty of accidents still occur. Be it down to distraction, FOMO, rushing, or tiredness, it’s not difficult to imagine how even experienced crypto users fall for these scams on a regular basis.

Scam Sniffer’s most recent monthly round-up identified “approximately 12K victims [who] lost $20.2 million to crypto phishing scams” in October, with four cases of over $1 million. Despite an overall total 56% lower than the previous month, the number of victims grew by 20%.

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At least four prominent extremist or white supremacy groups, including election influencer Turning Point USA (TPUSA), have used Cash App to attract donations — despite the payment platform’s anti-hate and bullying policies.

Cash App’s terms of service contain a specific clause prohibiting users to upload content that is “hateful or harmful to you, our customers or us.” However, it doesn’t specify what kind of groups would be prohibited from using Cash App services.

This may or may not be ambiguous on purpose — but it hints at how TPUSA and white supremacist groups Red Ice, Occidental Dissent, and Goyim Defence League (GDL) have been able to use Cash App to fund their activities.

Cash App crypto donations used by right-wing extremists Turning Point USA

Turning Point USA is a right-wing activist group co-founded by Charlie Kirk in 2012. It focuses on training and organizing students to promote conservative values. The group has played a pivotal role in Donald Trump’s presidential campaigns from 2016 to present.

Though Kirk maintains that TPUSA does not follow the tenets of white supremacy, its membership has been extended to an alarming amount of racists, anti-Muslims, and white supremacists.

To TPUSA’s credit, it has a history of banishing members caught making racist remarks — but the sheer number of these incidents speaks for itself.

Read more: Block whistleblower says firm ignored compliance, allowed terror groups

TPUSA does, however, openly advocate some extreme policies. It has actively promoted conspiracy theories about election fraud and COVID-19, as well as transphobia and Christian supremacy.

In the run-up to this year’s presidential elections, TPUSA has appeared to drum up significant support for Donald Trump among children and college students. According to political scientist Cas Mudde, it’s alarming groups like TPUSA that have allowed this generation to normalize the association of ‘Republicanism’ with ‘extremism.’

“In the past years, Kirk has not only fully embraced the authoritarian and nativist agenda of Trump, he and his organization have pivoted to full-on Christian nationalism,” Mudde noted in The Guardian after attending a TPUSA rally at the University of Georgia.

Thousands of dollars to anti-Semites, white supremacists via Cash App

Last year, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) found at least six extremists using Cash App.

Anti-Semitic group Goyim Defence League (GDL) and its founder Jon Minadeo were at the top of the ADL’s list. The small organization’s main goal, according to the ADL, is to expel Jews from the US. It uses outrageous stunts to rile up communities and sells hundreds of t-shirts, mugs, and other merch with vitriolic anti-Semitic slogans and symbols.

According to the ADL, supporters of the GDL sent approximately $3,114.19 in bitcoin donations from Cash App in 2023. A total of $2,148.41 worth of bitcoin was sent from GDL to Cash App.

It’s unclear if the GDL continues to use Cash App, but it does encourage donors to purchase bitcoin using the platform at the top of its donations page. The GDL also accepts bitcoin, monero, ether, bitcoin cash, litecoin, doge, ripple, and… Amazon gift cards.

Read more: ‘YouTube alternative’ is paying terrorists and hate groups in crypto, report

Additionally, the ADL report highlights that Richard Houck, a white supremacist and anti-Semite who writes for Counter-Currents, received a donation of over $2,000 from a supporter that was acquired via Cash App, and he subsequently transferred those funds back to Cash App.

The white supremacist news outlet Red Ice TV also uses Cash App to fund its activities, openly promoting it as a donation method on its website. It promotes ideals of white nationalism, antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and believes in white genocide.

The outlet made headlines in 2016 when it covered a National Policy Institute conference, where 200 attendees Nazi saluted the institute’s founder, Richard Spencer. The group was celebrating the election of Donald Trump.

The head of the now-disbanded American Identity Movement, formerly known as Identity Evropa, used to appear on Red Ice as a host. These groups also used Cash App to solicit donations.

Protos was also able to verify that Cash App donations are welcomed by Occidental Dissent, a prominent white supremacy blog run by Brad Griffin, who’s credited by the Southern Poverty Law Center for being “both a gatekeeper for the racist ‘alt-right’ and the chief exporter of its most effective tactics to his ideological passion project — Southern nationalism.”

Why Cash App when other platforms stay away?

Red Ice TV was banned from YouTube and Facebook back in 2019, following investigations that showed the platforms were rife with hate speech. Jon Minadeo was similarly de-platformed in May 2020, leading him to launch GoyimTV… so why has Cash App continued to allow these extremist, white supremacist groups to use its services, effectively facilitating their funding?

Apart from its vague terms of service, the firm has a history of serving dodgy customers. It’s currently under investigation by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) after two whistleblowers alleged the app doesn’t perform adequate know-your-customer (KYC) checks — opening the door to money laundering, financing terrorism, and more criminal activity.

Protos has reached out to ask why Cash App continues to support these groups and will update this piece should we hear back.

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An investment firm founder has warned women working in or looking to move into crypto to “please be vigilant” after a partner at Singapore-based DWF Labs was accused of drugging a job applicant and attempting to coerce her into his hotel suite after promising her a role in a crypto project.

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), Primitive Ventures founder and internet personality Dovey Wan was reacting to allegations made by a would-be DWF Labs employee who claims that, during a meeting in a bar in Hong Kong, Euguen Ng, one of DWF Labs’ founders, attempted to spike her drink.

The job applicant, known as ‘Hana,’ claims that she then left the bar and when she began to feel dizzy, Ng tried to coerce Hana into his accommodation, telling her, “I’ll take you to get a taxi. I have a suite in Murrary. If you treat me well, I can give you more inside information.”

Ng has since been fired by DWF Labs and the company has reportedly installed a new partner.

In the wake of the allegations, Ng switched his X account to private but has since appeared to delete it altogether.

Read more: DWF Labs partner allegedly caught trying to drug job applicant

On her X account, Wan said that she was “outraged and disgusted” and detailed how she met Ng on a number of occasions in Singapore, describing him as an apparent gentlemen. However, she added:

“The fact that after failing his attempt in HK, he shamelessly went to Dubai for another crypto conference, socializing as if nothing happened, likely hunting for his next target. This screams repeat criminal behavior to me.”

“Ladies, please be vigilant, the hidden risks [are] very real. Some of those crypto bros embody the most predatory aspects of both tech and finance cultures, treating women they see as ‘huntable’ with unpredictable crimes,” she warned.

In an interview with Wu Blockchain, published on Thursday, Hana recounted her experience, detailing her narrow escape and how she set about revealing the attack.

“The police said I was very lucky and could tell he was a repeat offender  — very skilled,” she told Wu Blockchain Editor-in-Chief Colin Wu.

“Unfortunately, because I didn’t report it on the day, there was no physical evidence,” she explained, adding that police have advised her to be careful, “as disclosing the footage might involve an invasion of personal privacy.”

She added, “After I posted on Twitter, Eugene contacted me, saying, ‘Let me know if you’re up to chat.’ He sent a few similar messages and called me several times, which I didn’t answer.”

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