Nigerian Scammer Poses as Trump-Vance Official, Steals $250,000 in Ethereum-Based USDT

A scammer located in Nigeria has allegedly impersonated Steve Witkoff, the co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, by making use of a barely noticeable type.

The scammer allegedly sent an email to the victim, asking for a donation using the email address "@T47Inaugural.com", replacing the lowercase "i" from the actual email address of Witkoff, which was @t47inaugural.com.

This minor change would be overlooked by most, and even more if the font was specifically used to make the difference almost impossible to spot.

The victim was tricked to transfer 250,300 USDT.ETH, a stablecoin pegged to the U.S. dollar and issued on the Ethereum blockchain, to a wallet controlled by the scammer on December 26, 2024.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia reported that the FBI managed to successfully trace the blockchain transactions and managed to recover 40,300 USDT.ETH, which is now subject to civil forfeiture proceedings to compensate the victim.

Tether Assists In The Recovery Of The Stolen Crypto

Tether, the issuer of USDT, played a key role in assisting authorities by freezing the stolen funds.

This mirrors its involvement in a previous case where Tether helped seize $225 million in USDT linked to large-scale investment scams, following a joint investigation by the DOJ, Secret Service, and crypto exchange OKX.

Industry experts warn that the use of AI and deepfake technology is rapidly increasing the scale and sophistication of crypto scams.

Saravanan Pandian, CEO of crypto exchange KoinBX, described the current landscape as “a whole new minefield,” where bad actors exploit political figures, real-world events, and the irreversible nature of crypto transactions to deceive victims.

He stressed that these scams are driven by opportunism, taking advantage of public trust and political sentiment and the irreversible nature of crypto all at once.

Chengyi Ong, Head of APAC Policy at Chainalysis, noted that as political acceptance of crypto grows, requests for digital asset donations become more plausible.

However, Ong also highlighted that this sort of scam is not limited just within the crypto sphere, as similar tactics could be used with fiat currencies and traditional payment methods.

The Enduring Threat of Phishing

Security specialists emphasize that phishing remains a fundamental tool for scammers, regardless of technological advancements.

Karan Pujara, founder of Scam Buzzer, pointed out that many users continue to fall for phishing schemes, whether in crypto, online shopping, or banking.

He explained that scammers often rely on psychological manipulation—triggering fear, greed, and FOMO—rather than hacking technical systems.

Pujara also warned that with the proliferation of AI-powered bots, scammers can now execute fraudulent transactions at an unprecedented speed and scale.

While many blame crypto for being the administrator of these scams, Pujar pointed out that traditional tactics such as spoofed domains and suspicious links remain the backbone of most scams.

Experts agree that combating the next generation of crypto scams will require a coordinated effort across law enforcement, regulators, tech companies, financial institutions, and the crypto industry.

As AI and deepfake technologies continue to evolve, the need for robust security practices and public awareness is more critical than ever.