Telegram channel impersonating a Bitcoin whale stole 0.6 BTC under UNI airdrop guise

A reader contacted ForkLog after paying more than $33,000 in cryptocurrency to the administrators of a Telegram channel selling signals allegedly from the Bitfinex Bitcoin trader Joe007.

A user under the handle Steambox had been subscribed to the channel for an extended period. He says the quality of the signals was low.

Recently, group administrator Elizabeth proposed that the user subscribe to a paid VIP channel that would grant access to insider signals and pumps of various altcoins.

“On March 27 I decided to subscribe to the VIP channel, knowing I was taking a risk. I paid 0.3 ETH (about $520 at the time). I realized later that it was pure guessing. The information isn’t worth a penny,” Steambox said.

Elizabeth also invited participation in the UNI token airdrop to “increase profits.” According to her, VIP clients were allegedly allocated between 100 and 500 free coins depending on the amount contributed.

Screenshot of the conversation. Data: user Steambox.

“I transferred 0.6 BTC (about $33,000 at the time) and then the extortion began. They brazenly started demanding a fee for the service to transfer the coins. That’s when I realised I had been duped,” the user added.

Screenshot of the conversation. Data: user Steambox.

Steambox explained that he was not warned about such rules and tried to negotiate a refund with the administrator. Elizabeth, however, advised “not to dictate your terms” and threatened to ban him from the group for “violation of the user agreement.”

Screenshot of the conversation. Data: user Steambox.

In the public Telegram channel, Elizabeth defends the high price of their services by saying that “insider information cannot be cheap”.

On March 22, the channel’s administration closed the main chat allegedly to prevent spam. Communication was moved to a paid VIP-chat for subscribers.

ForkLog sought comment from Elizabeth. She read the message and blocked the correspondent. At the time of writing, the Telegram channel had 20,370 subscribers and their number was falling. The attackers have numerous copies of the channel.

On CryptoBlacklist, several of their bitcoin addresses are marked as “trading scams.” One of the latest entries is dated March 17.

In July 2020, trader Joe007 had already warned that he has no affiliation with Telegram channels selling signals in his name.

I said it many times: not selling any subscriptions, not running any signal groups, not giving any investment advice, paid or otherwise. Especially not chatting with noobs in any support channel. If you are an idiot paying some scammer that pretends to be me, that’s 100% on you. https://t.co/8n79b1obD9

— Joe007 signals·alerts·funds are scams, all of them (@J0E007) July 1, 2020

“I’ve said many times that I do not sell any subscriptions, do not run any signal groups, and do not give any investment advice, paid or otherwise. Especially not chatting with newbies in any support channel. If you are an idiot paying scammers pretending to be me, you’re responsible for it,” he wrote.

For more on Joe007 and his strategy, read ForkLog’s feature on HUB ForkLog:

https://hub.forklog.com/neulovimyj-dzho-ili-lovis-homyak-bolshoj-i-malenkij/

Earlier, ForkLog reported that attackers began using personal data collected by Telegram bots, for blackmail and extortion. The scammers extort money by threatening to publicly disclose confidential information, as well as the victim’s online activities.

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