Lucía Peña
A Nigerian cybercriminal deceived a political donor into sending $250,000 in USDT by posing as a senior official from the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The scam, executed just before Christmas 2024, relied on a subtle typo in an email address—a classic phishing trick elevated by new technology and political relevance.
The attacker masqueraded as Steve Witkoff, the co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, by sending an email from “@t47lnaugural.com,” swapping the letter “i” in the legitimate domain with a nearly indistinguishable lowercase “l”.
The victim, believing the message was authentic, transferred 250,300 USDT.ETH, a stablecoin issued on the Ethereum network, to the scammer’s wallet on December 26, 2024.
DOJ, FBI, and Tether Take Action
Thanks to blockchain tracing tools, the FBI managed to recover 40,300 USDT. ETH, which is now undergoing civil forfeiture to help compensate the victim. Tether, the issuer of USDT, collaborated with authorities by freezing the stolen funds, continuing its proactive role in tracking and blocking illicit crypto activity.
Just last month, Tether helped seize $225 million linked to a separate “pig butchering” crypto scam, in coordination with the DOJ, the Secret Service, and crypto exchange OKX.
Scammers Exploit Political Trust and Public Sentiment
According to KoinBX CEO Saravanan Pandian, scams like this represent a “new minefield”, where bad actors prey on political events and trusted figures to exploit unsuspecting individuals. The Trump administration’s open support for crypto donations made such fraudulent requests more believable.
“This wasn’t a hack — it was clever social engineering,” Pandian noted.
Chengyi Ong from Chainalysis emphasized that this scam could have occurred with fiat payments as well, underlining that the issue isn’t just about crypto—it’s about trust and opportunism.
The Rising Role of AI in Financial Fraud
Experts are warning that AI and deepfake technologies are rapidly increasing the scale, speed, and realism of scam tactics. Ong stressed that stopping these scams will require a unified front from law enforcement, regulators, financial institutions, and the tech sector.
Karan Pujara, founder of Scam Buzzer, explained that traditional phishing tricks like spoofed URLs and deceptive messages remain at the core of most scams—even those involving advanced crypto tools.
“It’s not about breaking technology,” he said. “It’s about manipulating human psychology—fear, greed, and FOMO.”
Phishing Remains the Oldest—and Still Most Effective—Trick
Despite all the innovation in the digital world, scammers continue to rely on old-school techniques like email spoofing and fake websites. In crypto, these tactics are even more dangerous due to the irreversible nature of blockchain transactions.
Pujara added that automated bots, powered by AI, can now track high-value wallets and instantly launch poisoned address attacks, making prevention even harder for the average user.
Final Word: Crypto Isn’t the Problem—Complacency Is
While some point fingers at crypto itself, security experts say education, vigilance, and multi-layered verification are key to preventing similar incidents. As digital finance becomes more mainstream, the tools used by scammers are evolving—but the core weakness remains human trust.
