The US Department of Justice inadvertently revealed the identities of victims of a Nigerian scammer who stole over $250,000. The victims were top executives at MoonPay, reports NOTUS.
According to a statement on the seizure of frozen 40,350 USDT, two victims sent money to an individual impersonating Steve Witkoff, a special envoy of the United States to the Middle East. At the time of the incident, he was co-chair of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee.
The document identifies the victims as “Ivan” and “Mouna.” NOTUS noted a coincidence: the CEO of the crypto payment company MoonPay is Ivan Soto-Wright, and the CFO is Mouna Ammar Siala.
Additionally, the wallet involved in the $250,300 transaction is listed on Etherscan as linked to MoonPay. A separate lawsuit from 2023 alleged that Soto-Wright used the same address to fund his personal account.
The case materials suggest the victims fell for a common email spoofing trick. The scammer sent emails from steve_witkoff@t47lnaugural.com, where a lowercase “L” was used instead of an uppercase “I.” This technique is often employed by creators of fake accounts.
The criminal also used the email financersvp@t47lnaugural.com, disguised in a similar manner.
According to data obtained from Binance, the scammer’s wallet on the exchange is registered to Ehiremen Aigbohan, a resident of Lagos, Nigeria.
“IP address geolocation data consistently showed that emails from these accounts were sent from Nigeria, not the US. It appears Aigbohan received an international transfer of funds from the US to Nigeria as a result of his fraudulent activities,” the Department of Justice emphasized.
In June, hackers targeted Trezor users through the contact form on the official website.