Fraudsters share crypto keys with intent to steal from wannabe thieves: Kaspersky

Fraudsters pretend to be naive and post the pedigree of a loaded wallet online in a tactic that slips them away from people trying to steal crypto.

“Scammers invented a new trick – using newly created accounts to post crypto wallet seed phrases in YouTube comments,” said Mikhail Sitnik, an analyst at cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, in a December 23 blog post.

The researcher found comments on financial-related videos from users asking how to transfer Tether (USDT) from a crypto wallet to another wallet, which shared a pedigree.

The wallet seen by Sytnik contained around $8,000 as bait on the Tron network. A thief looking to move USDT must first send the blockchain native token TRON (TRX) to the bait wallet to pay the network fee.

When the thief transfers TRX to the bait wallet for payment, that TRX is immediately sent to another wallet under the control of the fraudsters.

“In order to allow outgoing transactions in such wallets, the consent of two or more people is required,” Sytnik explained. “So transferring USDT to a private wallet won't work – even after paying the commission.”

“In this case, the fraudsters are like digital Robin Hoods, as the scheme primarily targets other perverted individuals.”

The researcher advises people to never try to find other people's crypto wallets, even if they are given a pedigree, and to be wary of claims about cryptocurrency made by strangers online.

Related: Crypto Thieves Hit Big on Centralized Services, Private Keys in 2024

Scammers looking to scam other scammers is nothing new in crypto.

In July, Kaspersky revealed a more sophisticated scam targeting greedy individuals that involves luring them on Telegram with traps disguised as legitimate crypto exchanges and exploitable files.

This longer trick aims to install malware on the victim's computer to steal more data and assets.

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