How a ‘Wrong Number’ message turned into a $3.4M crypto scam

[_act_]

This does not start from romance pig butchering scam but from what we are also still familiar with very well which I think if anyone see the kind of message, the person should know that it is a scam already as the conversation with the stranger continues.

It starts from sending message to a victim, but it is a wrong number. I do not know how the scammers will continue having conversation with the victim until they gain the victims trust. They scammer will later introduce ether investment and gold stability investment. The victim will be lured to send them ether to help the victim to invest and that is it.

I still think this scam is no more new but people are just being ignorant.

https://cointelegraph.com/features/wrong-number-text-crypto-scam

It could be about bitcoin investment or any other thing.


Edit:

For this not to confuse people, the $3.4 million is not from a single victim.

In late 2024, the government began an investigation into a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme that targeted at least four individuals, including two Massachusetts residents, a resident of Utah and a resident of South Carolina.

[DubemIfedigbo001]

Like you mentioned, this is not new at all, but I am still not understanding how people are so quick to keep conversations on with strangers to the extent of trusting them in financial dealings. I can hardly agree to maintain further communication with someone who mistook my number for someone else's, not to mention of trusting them with and financial dealings.
Maybe their prime targets are older people who suffer from loneliness and appreciates any form of attention given to them and as we all know, most of them trusts easily since their mental configuration and perception level has degraded with age.

[EarnOnVictor]

It baffles me too, and women are the most victims of this vice. Is it gullibility or what? Does it mean that the victims were suffering from boredoms and needed someone to talk to? Make it make sense, in this selfish world, a stranger contacted me by mistake, and I will give in just like that? That's ridiculous. Even those people I know are still finding it difficult to gain my trust, let alone strangers. The victims are not smart!

[AprilioMP]

I often come across cases of scams disguised as “wrong number” pranks that result in the loss of fiat currency, but I rarely encounter scams in my circle that lead to the loss of crypto assets like Ether.
I’ve seen cases like this on social media and in online news reports.

It’s highly likely that in these cases, the perpetrators knew the victims held assets. This may be because the victims weren’t careful with their addresses while active in public spaces. I’ve drawn this from four key points mentioned in a Cointelegraph article, which serves as the linked source.

[Tmoonz]

Like you mentioned, this is not new at all, but I am still not understanding how people are so quick to keep conversations on with strangers to the extent of trusting them in financial dealings. I can hardly agree to maintain further communication with someone who mistook my number for someone else's, not to mention of trusting them with and financial dealings.
Maybe their prime targets are older people who suffer from loneliness and appreciates any form of attention given to them and as we all know, most of them trusts easily since their mental configuration and perception level has degraded with age.

You know one thing is that most time we are attracted to what we give attention, some people become vulnerable to scams when they so much desire to being rich over night, it only takes them to hear what they want to hear to get their full attention and trust so don't be surprised, funny enough even a younger person can also be trapped is all about mindset and talking about trust don't forget that some people trust easily with assumption that every other person out there can be as honest and sincere just like they are, is good that we learn from whats happening to others without waiting for it to happen to us first.

[_act_]

It’s highly likely that in these cases, the perpetrators knew the victims held assets.

It can be either the scammer know the victim or not know the victim. Just like I posted before, it is almost the same as romance pig butchering scam. If you have some experience about this two scam, you will understand what I am talking about. The victim can even be in another country but targeting people in rich countries like the United States. They can send such messages to multiple people, expecting someone to become their victim. But you are not also wrong, someone that knows someone can also be the scammer.

[Hazink]

These kinds of scammers are very patient. This one is for mobile numbers. I have read a story where scammers also send emails to random receivers and pretend as if the message was directed at someone else. How these victims will just continue to be interestingly interacting with them is what I don't know, and the more they are engaging in that conversation that's how they will build trust, especially how these scammers will use emotional manipulation to gain trust with their victims.

[SatoPrincess]

It baffles me too, and women are the most victims of this vice. Is it gullibility or what? Does it mean that the victims were suffering from boredoms and needed someone to talk to? Make it make sense, in this selfish world, a stranger contacted me by mistake, and I will give in just like that? That's ridiculous. Even those people I know are still finding it difficult to gain my trust, let alone strangers. The victims are not smart!

Victims of romance scam are both men and women. It’s a pity how many people get lonely when they reach a certain age, and that makes them more open to conversations with “kind people” on the internet. Unfortunately, scammers have not conscience and love taking advantage of the elderly. It’s going to take efforts from these dating apps to make their platform scam-free by adding stricter verification requirements and also banning keywords like crypto or investment.

[zasad@]

Refrain from responding to or engaging with unfamiliar contacts

Resist the urge to continue the conversation simply to be polite

Never transfer money or cryptocurrency to wallet addresses provided by strangers

Immediately block and report suspicious phone numbers, accounts or profiles

Promptly notify law enforcement and the relevant platforms or exchanges if any funds have already been sent

Our kindergarten teacher told us something similar: that we shouldn't talk to strangers
For every uneducated person there is always a swindler who will cheat him. I can try to understand people, because governments and banks, with the help of new laws and weak contracts, have deceived more people than all the scammers.

[freedomgo]

I still think this scam is no more new but people are just being ignorant.

This is really one of the main reasons. I’ve read and even shared reports before showing that most victims are the elderly and vulnerable. These scammers have no conscience, they operate on a professional level, almost like they have incentives if they hit certain targets.

What’s surprising is that even with governments regulating crypto to reduce scams, it’s still happening. Even in developed countries like the US, cases are still reported. And it’s even worse in less developed or third world countries like the Philippines, where scams, especially Ponzi schemes, are very common.

[Japinat]

Like you mentioned, this is not new at all, but I am still not understanding how people are so quick to keep conversations on with strangers to the extent of trusting them in financial dealings. I can hardly agree to maintain further communication with someone who mistook my number for someone else's, not to mention of trusting them with and financial dealings.
Maybe their prime targets are older people who suffer from loneliness and appreciates any form of attention given to them and as we all know, most of them trusts easily since their mental configuration and perception level has degraded with age.

It could be possible since old people are actually prone to scams.

However, my own take about these victims is that they are looking for get rich quick investments, and this scam scenario is just making a perfect entry. And we can see that these victims are probably not business mindset people so they trust strangers easily even when it comes to financial transactions.

I know this kind of strategy is not something new, but for ignorant and innocent people, this is new for them, no wonder they bite the offer easily.

[Felicity_Tide]

I still think this scam is no more new but people are just being ignorant.

I guess this is another friendly reminder, even though we're still going to keep hearing news of victims who have fallen for the same scam or something similar. The truth is, being wealthy doesn't automatically hides a person's ignorance. It will only takes time for a smart person to take advantage of them, especially when their weaknesses are discovered.

Conversations with strangers/random calls should always raise questions and concerns, even though that's how we get to know people. But the inability for people to pull the plug especially when it starts to get too extreme in a very weird way, is probably one common mistake that a lot of victims make. They end up entertaining strangers for too long, who ends up bringing investment packages to their faces.

[maydna]

It started as conversation and convince the target to trust and follow the scammers wants. Many people tempting to follow the promises and don't care if that is scams or not. They just thinks about the profit in a short time.

That makes them follow the instruction without forcing from scammers, scammers can target unknown number and talk as they are closest friends. Scammers will shares the exciting programs that will attract target's attention.

Slowly, target will not feels they are get the scams but they will thinks the offers are real. You should be careful with the strange numbers and don't talks to them and don't pick the phone but let it like that.

[Hatchy]

I still think this scam is no more new but people are just being ignorant.
 

I think is one of the oldest form of scam. Probably not in most countries, but I've heard of it in my country alot. They simply find a way to convince the victims to see why they should invest their money with them. Though there are different forms which these scammers do use so we can't be sure. My problem is how people might be so desperate talking to someone you met online about an investment scheme you barly know of. Sometimes the current condition and state of the economy can make people do things without thinking just so they can survive. But it's worth being careful. Nothing comes for free and once it's beginning to look too good to be true then it isn't.

[hd49728]

This does not start from romance pig butchering scam but from what we are also still familiar with very well which I think if anyone see the kind of message, the person should know that it is a scam already as the conversation with the stranger continues.

It starts from sending message to a victim, but it is a wrong number. I do not know how the scammers will continue having conversation with the victim until they gain the victims trust. They scammer will later introduce ether investment and gold stability investment. The victim will be lured to send them ether to help the victim to invest and that is it.

Messages from strangers need to be treated very carefully and cautiously and it's safe to completely ignore them. But if you want to check if having fear of missing something important, go ahead and do it, it's just safe if you only check messages. Then if messages have things related to money, stop instantly there as it is very big red flag of scammers.

So if there is no such red flag, you even should not continue the conversation, but if the continuation leads to money related things, it's time for a red flat and lets' stop there, never continue discussions with that strangers.

People ignore many steps to keep them safe, so they must be paid expensive costs.