Crypto scammers lure thieves with public seed phrases in new scheme: Kaspersky

A new crypto scam appears to be flipping the script for thieves. By publicly sharing seed phrases, scammers create bait portfolios that entangle opportunists in a deceptive scheme designed to exploit their attempts to steal funds.

According to the latest findings from cybersecurity firm Kaspersky, scammers are posting crypto wallet seed phrases in YouTube comments using newly created accounts.

initial bait

The plan begins with a comment on a finance-related video from someone who claims to need help transferring USDT, a stablecoin, to another wallet. They reveal your entire seed phrase, essentially sharing your wallet key, which seems suspicious at first glance. This act of sharing a seed phrase is a red flag, as it is the gateway to accessing and controlling the funds in a wallet.

Kaspersky revealed that the comment looks like this:

“I have a question. I have USDT stored in my wallet and I have the seed phrase. How to transfer my funds to another wallet?

Upon further investigation, Kaspersky said similar comments were posted from newly created accounts, each containing identical recovery phrases and support requests. The scam assumes that an unscrupulous person, instead of offering help, could take advantage of the situation. With access to the seed phrase, they can open the wallet, which could contain a significant sum of cryptocurrency, in this case, the equivalent of $8,000 in USDT.

However, the scammers have set a trap. The wallet is actually multi-signature and requires multiple approvals to authorize transactions. When a thief attempts to transfer USDT, they discover that the wallet lacks enough TRX to cover the transaction fee. When the thief tries to send TRX from his own wallet, the tokens are redirected to a completely different wallet. This clever setup ensures that even the most opportunistic thief cannot easily steal your funds.

Trap for the greedy

Kaspersky research reveals that the scam primarily targets other criminals, tricking them into becoming victims. By posing as inexperienced cryptocurrency users, scammers trick thieves into attempting to steal funds they ultimately cannot access.

“So, scammers pose as beginners who foolishly share access to their crypto wallets, fooling equally naïve thieves, who end up becoming victims. In this scenario, the scammers are somewhat like digital Robin Hoods, as the scheme primarily targets other dishonest individuals.”