A Bitcoiner lost $91 million in one transaction due to a social engineering attack on Tuesday, with the funds subsequently transferred to a privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet, according to blockchain investigator ZachXBT.
The individual was misled by impersonators posing as support for crypto exchanges and hardware wallets, resulting in a loss of 783 Bitcoin (BTC) in one transaction, as reported by ZachXBT in a post on X on Thursday.
Blockchain data indicates that the theft took place on Tuesday at 11:06 am UTC, and the perpetrator began laundering the stolen funds the following day using the Bitcoin privacy-oriented Wasabi Wallet to obscure the trail of the funds, according to ZachXBT.
Social engineering attacks involve deceiving individuals into disclosing sensitive information, such as private keys or passwords, enabling attackers to steal their funds. These schemes have become prevalent in the cryptocurrency space, targeting everyone from seasoned investors to the elderly.
In response to how individuals can avoid falling victim to such scams, ZachXBT suggested treating every call or email received as a potential “scam by default.”
Source: ZachXBT
ZachXBT rules out North Korea hackers
While ZachXBT did not name any suspects, he excluded the notorious North Korean state-sponsored Lazarus Group as a possible attacker.
The funds were received at a clean Bitcoin wallet address — ‘bc1qyxyk’ — before employing Wasabi Wallet’s privacy features to attempt to obscure them.
ZachXBT also noted that this attack coincidentally happened exactly one year after the $243 million theft involving Genesis creditors.
Scammers impersonating hardware crypto wallet providers
Scammers often impersonate crypto hardware wallet providers like Ledger and Trezor using advanced techniques.
In late April, scammers imitating Ledger sent letters that appeared to be from the company, requesting users’ secret recovery phrases to gain control of their devices.
They claimed that a “critical security update” was necessary and that failure to comply could “restrict access to your wallet and funds.”
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In the same month, an elderly American lost over $330 million worth of Bitcoin due to a social engineering attack, which sent shockwaves throughout the industry.
Crypto theft is still a multibillion-dollar industry
Over $2.1 billion was lost to crypto-related attacks in the first five months of 2025, with the majority of losses stemming from wallet compromises and phishing schemes, reported blockchain security firm CertiK in June.
The largest incident was a $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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