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

[khaled0111]

This scam tactic is not that different from the well known romance scam.
The main difference is how the attackers approache their victims for the first time. In romance scams, they use dating platforms most of the times, while in this case their tactic to start the conversation is by pretending it’s a wrong number. What comes next is almost the same, which is using social engineering to gain the victim’s trust.
As most members suggested, the best way to remain safe is to avoid talking to strangers.

[Die_empty]

This scam tactic is not that different from the well known romance scam.
The main difference is how the attackers approache their victims for the first time. In romance scams, they use dating platforms most of the times, while in this case their tactic to start the conversation is by pretending it’s a wrong number. What comes next is almost the same, which is using social engineering to gain the victim’s trust.
As most members suggested, the best way to remain safe is to avoid talking to strangers.

I fell victim to a scam recently. They hacked a family member's social media and I never knew.  They used the account and asked for financial assistance from me. The mistake I made was not to call her to confirm if she was actually the person. Since I was busy in the office and she needed the funds urgently, I sent money to the scammer.

We should not send money to anybody when we are under stress at work because we might not be thinking clearly. Always confirm or verify a person's identity from more than one source before engaging in any transaction.

[Bryan jessy]

And this has happened several times, it is even getting common now. I discovered that an App exist where people from different countries chat with lonely foreigners and get paid, this foreigners are mostly advanced men and women who just needed someone to talk with them, most people took advantage of this lonely people to gain their trust and scam them thereafter. There are people whom are vulnerable to such scam, I believe is not everyone that can fail victim of such scam, so far a person do not make himself available for them to prey on.

Also I am trying to digest how possible it is, that a person received a call from a stranger and get lured to given sensitive information about their assets,  more like catfishing, it sounds almost impossible but very possibly because it has happened and still happening, let's be watchful.

[lovesmayfamilis]

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!

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.

These are exactly the questions I ask myself when I read something like this. Single women or older men, it doesn't matter; it feels like people have a lot of money that they got very easily since they part with it so easily and quickly.

Something is happening in the world with the minds of some people. Why do we believe those who are far away but do not see those who are close? Those who regularly say, Do not trust strangers; be vigilant. There will not always be people on the other side of the screen whom you would like to see and whom you need to trust.

Single women should always have a stop sign; that's why they're lonely: they don't trust many people, they can't get along with men, and therefore, trust for them should be something very personal. Older people should have worldly wisdom, but unfortunately, they don't have it either.

[bitbollo]

Has been proved and its well known here in the EU that there are groups that setup ""COMPANIES"" running such schemes.
It sounds all ok and everything scary but... they have sent addresses to a fake website/fake service or in general to not legitimate.
It would very easy a double check directly with companies involved... and not barely trusting a random message received.
 

[knowngunman]

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!

Lol, let me say it from Africa perspective. Most at times, this things don't just happen ordinarily. The scammers probably made use of some black jazz that makes the victim lose self control and then act as commanded. In other instance, the victim might be on the influence of drinks or some other things that affect their sense stability.

In any of the aforementioned cases, you're likely to fall victim even if you are smart. To some extent, I agree with you that women are mostly the victim when it comes to this strategy probably because they have less exposure than men and can be easily manipulated.

Personally, I have done several financial deals with total strangers but that doesn't mean I trust every stranger that comes my way. It all depends on how everything plays out from the beginning. If you're not smart enough, never entertain conversation from strangers.

[Rgram]

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.

This is the kind of scam that works on some very dumb and greedy people. I mean, how ca you receive a message or call from an unknown caller, clearly knowing it’s a wrong number but still, you decide to continue conversing with this individual. It doesn’t just end at conversing but, you go the length of making investment deposits with the unknown person, that’s really not what a wise and conscious individual would do.
People could be so eager to add up to the workload that law enforcement agencies have to do.

[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!

Lol, let me say it from Africa perspective. Most at times, this things don't just happen ordinarily. The scammers probably made use of some black jazz that makes the victim lose self control and then act as commanded.

I heard that that happened, but still, it doesn't work on everyone. Being potent on everyone or not, this is global, so we shouldn't limit it to what is happening in Africa. Many stories have been told where the victims and the perpetrators are from countries like the US, UK, Europe, Middle East, etc. Are they also using black magic?

In other instance, the victim might be on the influence of drinks or some other things that affect their sense stability.

This can't be true because it is not a scam that was perpetrated in an instance, just like hacking/theft. But it's a gradual process of building trust and relationship. If the victims were under influence at first, were they other the influence forever?

[Charles-Tim]

Lol, let me say it from Africa perspective. Most at times, this things don't just happen ordinarily. The scammers probably made use of some black jazz that makes the victim lose self control and then act as commanded.

I heard that that happened, but still, it doesn't work on everyone. Being potent on everyone or not, this is global, so we shouldn't limit it to what is happening in Africa. Many stories have been told where the victims and the perpetrators are from countries like the US, UK, Europe, Middle East, etc. Are they also using black magic?

In other instance, the victim might be on the influence of drinks or some other things that affect their sense stability.

This can't be true because it is not a scam that was perpetrated in an instance, just like hacking/theft. But it's a gradual process of building trust and relationship. If the victims were under influence at first, were they other the influence forever?

Yes, it can not be true. The victim is first lured to gain their trust just like romance scam, then offer a fake business. But Knowngunman is not saying the scam is happening entirely in Africa. He said in African perspective, which means he is likely from a country in Africa and know how such scam is happening in Africa and using it as an example. He did not mean that the scam is only happening in Africa.

[WannaParadise]

These types of wrong number scams are an effective combination of technical and social engineering elements. I think, the attackers main advantage lies in users lack of attention and digital literacy. furthermore, the risk is very high due to the irreversible nature of cryptocurrency transfers. I think this way because systemically blockchain transactions are irreversible. Once funds have been sent, error correction mechanisms are limited. From a technical perspective, fraudsters use low and cost automation to send wrong number messages to large audiences identifying suitable targets and establishing contact with them. This is a ruthless and effective attack..!!

I witnessed a similar incident first hand... A friend of an acquaintance of mine started chatting with someone who had sent a message from the wrong number and within a short time the impression of a trustworthy investment expert was created leading him to send 5 ETH. At first, a small return was promised but then they were asked to invest more. Eventually, the transactions stopped and all contact was lost. This incident showed me just how convincing automation based social engineering can be...

I’d like to briefly share my practical tips with you 
Always be sceptical of unexpected investment offers
Request third-party identity verification before making a transfer
Make small test transfers and use a cold wallet

I think, platforms should also be required to invest in user education and delayed transaction confirmation mechanisms. As a developer, I advocate for irreversible transaction warnings to be visually highlighted in the user interface. What are your thoughts on this