Simply put
- Investors lost 783 Bitcoin due to social engineering scams, as reported by On-Chain Thruce ZACHXBT.
- The perpetrator reportedly used a coin mixing service in an effort to obscure the stolen funds.
- Zachxbt noted that last year, three individuals employed similar tactics to steal $243 million in Bitcoin.
On Tuesday, cryptocurrency investors fell victim to social engineering scams, resulting in the loss of 783 Bitcoin, which was valued at approximately $91 million when the incident occurred.
According to an investigator, the victim received a message from someone impersonating customer support for a hardware wallet and cryptocurrency exchange. The investigators did not disclose which company was impersonated.
As of now, the value of the stolen 783 Bitcoin has dropped to around $88 million due to recent market fluctuations.
The threat actor made deposits using Wasabi Wallet, a privacy-oriented Bitcoin mixer. ZachxBT mentioned that stolen funds have started to be moved across various digital wallets.
Social engineering attacks often succeed in the crypto space. Zachxbt pointed out that the recent theft happened just a year after a similar case where three individuals claimed they had stolen 4,064 BTC from an unknown victim.
Two individuals have been arrested in connection with a scheme that reportedly funded lavish purchases of cars, watches, and real estate in Florida. They allegedly posed as members of the Google support team to manipulate victims into changing their two-factor authentication settings.
On August 19, 2025, the victim lost 783 BTC ($91 million) due to a social engineering scam involving customer support for hardware wallets. The stolen funds began to be moved, and deposits to Wasabi were made by the perpetrators.
– Zachxbt (@zachxbt) August 21, 2025
Some social engineering scams can be pretty elaborate. Reports suggest that criminals often resort to tactics like “SIM Swapping,” where they convince mobile service providers to reroute victims’ phone services to their devices.
In a notable case, SEC staff fell victim to a SIM swapping attack in 2024, coinciding with the launch of funds traded at Spot Bitcoin Exchange in the U.S., leading to a 14-month sentence for the perpetrator involved in promoting the fraudulent activity.
The FBI has issued warnings that misleading employees is also a common tactic in social engineering scams, which may involve persuading individuals into call forwarding to access victims’ phone numbers and phishing for sensitive information.
Job seekers are not exempt either. A report from February highlighted a hacking group that created a fake crypto company to conduct social engineering scams that led to the download of malware designed to drain crypto wallets.
