Scammers impersonating Ukrainian cops have defrauded an online businessman of $250,000 in USDT after contacting the businessman and accusing him of crimes.
The saga started as far back as May 2024 when the fake police accosted the businessman and accused him of serious crimes against the Ukrainian state including treason and collaboration with Russia.
The fake police officers were able to convince the businessman to transfer $250,000 in USDT to facilitate the dropping of the charges and put an end to the harassment by the supposed Ukrainian police.
The businessman was threatened with long-term imprisonment should he not comply with the demands.
The scammers after receiving the money quickly moved the money through an unnamed exchange.
Ukrainian Police Step In
The businessman supposedly contacted the Ukrainian police after he sent the funds and they swung into action.
The Ukrainian police were able to trace the stolen crypto assets to four suspects and traced their real-time locations.
During this raid, The Ukrainian police found Bank Cards, computers, mobile phones, luxury cars, fake press credentials, ammunition, and nearly $7,000 in cash.
According to the police, the arrested suspects are now facing criminal charges and could get up to 12 years in jail if convicted.
The criminals are also set to lose all their property.
The police now await the court decision on custody status and are also looking into their connection with other pending crimes.
Popular types of crypto scams
The crypto scam above is a new strain of scams being perpetrated by bad actors in the crypto industry. The impersonation of police authorities to harass victims opens a new chapter in the recorded cases of crypto scamming schemes.
Popular crypto scams include Pig butchering, Phishing, Rug pulls, and exit scams.
Pig Butchering got its name from a South Korean term that describes the slow methodology used in killing pigs. The scam involves building a long-term relationship with the proposed victim which often takes a romantic turn. After a fake sense of security has been attained by the victim, he or she is lured to invest in a fraudulent investment scheme where they lose all the money they invested.
Phishing entails using cloned sites or emails to obtain sensitive information like passwords and login details. It is a popular technique also used in internet fraud and Business Email Compromise (BEC) scams.
Rug pulls are mostly orchestrated by developers of a crypto project. They float a crypto project as genuine and make away with investor funds when enough money has been invested into the project.
What to Know
- The crypto industry lost nearly $350 million worth of crypto assets to scammers in August 2024.
- Phishing attacks make up the bulk of these losses within the said month.
