Bitcoin Investor Loses $91 Million To Social Engineering Scam

A cryptocurrency investor lost 783 Bitcoin—around $91 million—on Tuesday after falling victim to a social engineering scam. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT revealed the fraud on Telegram and social media, explaining that malicious actors impersonated customer support agents from the investor’s hardware wallet provider.

According to Coindesk, the attack resembles other scams reported this year, contributing to an estimated $3.1 billion in losses for crypto investors during the first half of the year.

After getting the funds, the scammers made multiple deposits into a privacy-focused wallet service called Wasabi Wallet, which is often used to obscure transaction trails.

On Aug 19, 2025 a victim fell for a social engineering scam and lost 783 BTC ($91M) after exchange and hardware wallet customer support were impersonated.

The stolen funds began to peel off and deposits to Wasabi were made by the threat actor.

Coincidentally this theft… pic.twitter.com/gglShNo2UC

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) August 21, 2025

“The stolen funds began to peel off, and deposits to Wasabi were made by the threat actor,” explained the investigator ZachXBT. “Coincidentally, this theft happened on the one year anniversary of the $243M Genesis Creditor theft.”

ZachXBT did not disclose the names of the impersonated companies or the aliases of the suspected scammers. Following the Genesis theft mentioned by the investigator, U.S. authorities arrested two individuals linked to the crime—in an investigation in which ZachXBT collaborated as well.

The recent theft has renewed concerns about blockchain security and the growing sophistication of social engineering and other cybercrime tactics. Multiple users commented on ZachXBT’s post on the social media platform X. “How does this even happen?,” wrote one user. “Genuinely makes you worry about digital assets, sometimes cash really does feel somewhat safer.”

Last year, the FBI issued an alert over social engineering techniques used by cybercriminals to steal funds. “Obtaining personal information through these techniques gives cybercriminals the ability to invade a victim’s network, steal victim data, and extort victims by threatening to release private data,” the agency warned.

According to a recent report shared in January,  more than 332,000 victims lost around $500 million in cryptocurrency through wallet drainer scams in 2024.