The Top 25 Most Frequently Reported Bitcoin Scam Addresses to BitcoinWhosWho.com in 2020* received 9.5994793 total BTC.
Every single address is associated with the “sextortion” email scam first reported here in March 2018. There are many variations of the scam, but basically claims to have webcam footage of the email recipient visiting adult websites and demands payment in bitcoin or else the video will be sent to their contacts.
The average amount scammed was .092 BTC.
Top 25 Most Frequently Reported Bitcoin Scam Addresses of 2020
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) fined the founder of cryptocurrency “mixers” Helix and Coin Ninja this week for violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, an action that may signal more serious enforcement actions against bitcoin scams in the future.
The first “Elon Musk/Tesla” #Bitcoin scam reported to BitcoinWhosWho.com in June 2018 involved a hijacked high-profile verified Twitter account pretending to giveaway our beloved valuable crypto asset. Since then, the volume of Elon Musk (& Tesla) related bitcoin scams reported has increased dramatically, especially from Japan.
Elon Musk & Telsa Bitcoin Scam Report Volume
Almost 45% of Elon Musk/Tesla bitcoin scam reports come from Japan. 16% are unknown, 15% are US and the rest;
There will be winners and losers in the race to become the best bitcoin extortionist emailer. The latest bitcoin scam email campaign looks like it will be one of the losers.
New Bitcoin Bomb Ransom Email A Fake
Starting this morning, from U.S. sources, BitcoinWhosWho.com began receiving reports of a fake bomb threat demanding $20k in bitcoin or a “mercenary” would blow up their building. So far no one has paid any of the 15 bitcoin addresses that have been identified. But, it would only take a few people falling for this to make it worthwhile for the scammer.
The email typically states the bomb or explosive device is made of “lead azide”, “Tetryl” or “Hexogen” but also “tronitrotoluene” has been reported.
Notably, the author really wants to be clear that everything is proceeding “according to my guide”. Oh, and BTW, the bomb will go off by the end of the day if you don’t pay.
When reports of this email scam first started appearing last September the perpetrators were discovered to be using a Matbea wallet. That appears to have changed. On May 30 every output transaction from hundreds of reported blackmail scam addresses went to a Poloniex wallet address.
These bitcoin addresses were reported as scams related to the porn blackmail email:
2,759 BTC Burned All-TimeThe total amount of bitcoin in circulation decreased by almost 9 in 2017 due to “burn” addresses. Burn addresses, like the Genesis Block, are deadlier than “zombie” addresses, because there is no chance of coming back once BTC is sent to it. There are almost 400 known bitcoin burn addresses, i.e. valid addresses with no private key, to which, for a variety of reasons, people have sent 2,759.42507135 over the years. In 2017, 9 of these addresses received 8.97140133 BTC. That is way down from 2016 when 26.04 BTC was burned. Continue reading 8.97 Bitcoins Burned In 2017→
Bitcoin Hitman Sample Email BitcoinWhosWho received multiple independent reports of a new bitcoin ransom email threatening people with “I’ve got an order to remove you” circulating.
BitcoinWhosWho.com started receiving reports of a mass email attempting to blackmail recipients out of bitcoin about a month ago. The hilariously worded text always closes with “sorry for misprints, I am foreign”. Rudimentary block exploring shows at least some of these scam addresses are being consolidated on the Russian wallet service Matbea.com. Continue reading Blackmail Scam Run on Russian Wallet Matbea→