Trump's inauguration committee impersonated and took 300 million won... A huge amount of money was stolen using only one alphabet

Political Circles' Cryptocurrency Acceptance Rises, Raising Concerns about Sophisticated Fraud Techniques
Caution and Proactive Measures Needed against AI and Deepfake Technology-Enabled Fraud

The US Department of Justice revealed the full details of the 'Trump-Pence Inaugural Committee Cryptocurrency Fraud Case' today (local time).

A Nigerian national fraudster approached a donor on December 24th last year, impersonating Steven Charles Witkoff, the co-chair of the Trump-Pence Inaugural Committee. The fraudster deceived the victim using a similar domain (@t47lnaugural.com) by replacing the alphabet 'i' with 'l' in the official email address (@t47inaugural.com).

The victim, falling for the scam, transferred 250,000 dollars (approximately 340 million won) worth of Tether (USDT) stablecoin to the fraudster's cryptocurrency wallet two days later on December 26th. The FBI, using blockchain tracking technology and collaborating with Tether, recovered part of the stolen amount of 40,300 Tether (approximately 54.8 million won), and the victim compensation process is currently underway.

As the cryptocurrency acceptance in political circles worldwide increases, the likelihood of similar fraud techniques rises, and especially with the development of AI and deepfake technology, more sophisticated fraud methods may emerge. This case once again highlights the risks of new fraud techniques that can occur in political fundraising processes.

Choi Joo-hoon joohoon@blockstreet.co.kr