A Bitcoiner suffered a loss of $91 million in a single transaction due to a social engineering attack on Tuesday, with the funds subsequently transferred to a privacy-oriented Bitcoin wallet, as reported by blockchain investigator ZachXBT.
The victim fell prey to impersonators who masqueraded as support representatives from a crypto exchange and hardware wallet, resulting in the loss of 783 Bitcoin (BTC) in one transaction, ZachXBT stated in a post on X on Thursday.
Blockchain data indicates that the theft took place on Tuesday at 11:06 am UTC, with the perpetrator commencing the laundering of the stolen funds the following day using the Bitcoin privacy wallet Wasabi to obscure the transaction trail, according to ZachXBT.
Social engineering attacks involve manipulation tactics that lead individuals to disclose sensitive information, including private keys or passwords, enabling attackers to access their funds. These scams are widespread in the cryptocurrency space, affecting everyone from seasoned investors to the elderly.
When asked how individuals can protect themselves from social engineering, ZachXBT recommended treating every call or email received as a “scam by default.”
ZachXBT dismisses North Korean hackers
Although ZachXBT did not specify any suspects, he excluded the infamous Lazarus Group, a state-sponsored North Korean entity, as a potential suspect.
The thief received the funds at an untainted Bitcoin wallet address — ‘bc1qyxyk’ — and subsequently utilized Wasabi Wallet’s privacy features to attempt to hide them.
ZachXBT noted that the attack coincidentally occurred exactly one year after the $243 million theft involving Genesis creditors.
Scammers posing as hardware wallet providers
Fraudsters have routinely impersonated providers of crypto hardware wallets like Ledger and Trezor, employing sophisticated tactics.
In late April, scammers posing as Ledger sent letters that falsely represented the company, urging users to provide secret recovery phrases for their crypto wallets to gain control of the devices.
They claimed a “critical security update” was required for their devices, warning that failure to comply could lead to “restricted access to your wallet and funds.”
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In the same month, an elderly US citizen lost over $330 million worth of Bitcoin due to a social engineering attack, sending ripples through the industry.
Crypto theft remains a multibillion-dollar industry
According to blockchain security firm CertiK, more than $2.1 billion was lost to crypto-related attacks in the first five months of 2025, with the majority of losses resulting from wallet compromises and phishing scams.
The most significant incident was the $1.4 billion exploit of the crypto exchange Bybit in February, underscoring that even large, thoroughly audited crypto platforms are vulnerable.
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