$250K Crypto Scam: Fraudsters Impersonate Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee

Nigerian scammers allegedly impersonated the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and stole $250,300 worth of Ethereum-based USDT from an unsuspecting donor, according to U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro. The Department of Justice has classified the scheme as a Business Email Compromise (BEC) scam.

The scammers reportedly sent a phishing email last December using a deceptive domain address (@t47lnaugural.com) that mimicked the legitimate committee email (@t47inaugural.com), with a lowercase 'L' replacing an 'I'. The U.S. Attorney's Office noted the fraudulent address was nearly indistinguishable from the authentic one due to the font used.

After convincing the victim to transfer cryptocurrency to a wallet ending in 58c52 on December 26, 2024, the scammers quickly moved the $250,300 in USDT.ETH to another address within two hours. Through blockchain analysis, the FBI has successfully traced 40,353 USDT.ETH and is seeking recovery of these funds for the victim.

FBI Assistant Director Steven J. Jensen warned: 'These sophisticated impersonation scams cost Americans billions annually. Always verify email addresses, URLs, and message details carefully.' Attorney Pirro emphasized the need for donors to exercise extreme caution with crypto transactions, noting the difficulty in recovering stolen funds due to blockchain complexity.