The crypto industry is constantly subject to sporadic reports of crypto thefts and scams and the most recent one was a hacker who managed to steal $20 million in Tether’s USDT stablecoin. 

How The Scammer Stole $20 Million In USDT

The eye-popping heist was the result of a perfectly executed zero-transfer phishing attack. To carry out the theft, the hackers had to create an address that looked similar to the receiver’s address. 

An on-chain data report from Peckshield shows that the scammer created a spoofed transaction that looked like a legitimate transfer of USDT from the victim’s wallet 0xa7Bf48749D2E4aA29e3209879956b9bAa9E90570, the scammer’s wallet address. However, no funds were actually moved. Following this, the victim unknowingly sent $20 million to the scammer’s address. 

The hack was made possible due to the similarity between the intended receiver’s and the scammer’s addresses. On-chain data shows that the intended address, 0xa7B4BAC8f0f9692e56750aEFB5f6cB5516E90570, had frequently transacted with the victim’s wallet address.

Tether Blacklists Address To Stop Scammer

Although the hackers were able to carry out the daring attack successfully, the funds remain inaccessible. Once Tether, the company behind USDT, discovered the unauthorized transactions, they took quick action. Tether has since blacklisted the scammer’s address, preventing them from depositing or withdrawing the stolen USDT. 

USDT market cap sitting at $83.8 billion | Source: Market Cap USDT on Tradingview.com

Tether’s intervention was done barely an hour after the attack. While Tether showcased its ability to act against fraud and protect its USDT users, the fast nature of the intervention has left others wondering who the victim might be.

Curious who this would be if it was blacklisted within ~1 hr

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Author: Scott Matherson

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