The United States Drug Enforcement Administration reportedly got scammed out of $55,000 by a calculating grifter who remains on the loose.
Drug enforcement agents spent three years following the trail of unidentified drug traffickers trading in cryptocurrency, according to Forbes. In May, they seized $500,000 from two Binance accounts involved in that operation’s illegal activities.
When agents following forfeiture protocol sent a $45.36 test deposit to the United States Marshals Service using the cryptocurrency Tether, a scammer tracking the blockchain took notice, created an account with a number similar to the long address the DEA was communicating with, then “airdropped” a token leading feds to believe their trial run was successful.
DEA officials then sent $55,000 to that roughly 30-digit account number, according to Forbes, which said the thief withdrew the ill-begotten deposit, converted it to a different cryptocurrency, then effectively moved it through cyberspace and into oblivion. By the time Marshalls and DEA officials realized what happened, their money was gone.
Digital wallets used by the alleged scammer reportedly indicate hundreds of thousands of dollars have passed through accounts used by the savvy crook. The FBI is hoping a pair of Gmail addresses used to open Binance accounts believed to be tied to the scam will lead them to a suspect.
A cybersecurity expert told Forbes whoever ripped off the DEA cleverly created an account that’s first and last several digits matched those of the Marshall’s account, knowing users verifying such transactions might not notice the numbers in between weren’t the same.
