Scammer exploiting a known tactic remains unidentified in the case
According to a report published by Cointelegraph, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) fell victim to a scammer who made off with $55,000 worth of seized Tether (USDT) through a method known as "address poisoning." The agency had earlier confiscated over $500,000 worth of USDT held in two Binance accounts as part of a multi-year investigation into money laundering involving drug sales.
During standard forfeiture processing, an on-chain sleuth noticed a trezor crypto wallet test transaction of around $45 worth of USDT being sent to the U.S. Marshals Service. The scammer then set up a wallet with the same first five and last four characters as the Marshals account and performed the address poisoning scam. The DEA agent was tricked and sent over $55,000 to the scammer's address.
By the time the Marshals Service alerted the DEA, and the agency requested Tether to freeze the funds, the scammed USDT had already been converted to Ether and Bitcoin and moved to other wallets. The DEA is working with the FBI to investigate the incident, and so far, they have discovered two Binance accounts that funded the attacker wallet's gas fees, both with associated Gmail email addresses. The investigation continues in hopes that Google may have information that can help identify the scammer.
