On Monday, Mikhail Sytnik, an analyst at the cybersecurity company Kaspersky, pointed out in an article that some fraudsters are targeting digital thieves, using cryptocurrency wallet seed phrases as bait to scam funds deposited as transaction fees.
Many scammers pose as inexperienced cryptocurrency users, publicly posting the seed phrases of wallets that allegedly contain funds online, but this is actually a trap.
Sytnik noted that scammers ask in the comments section of YouTube videos how to transfer cryptocurrency assets from one wallet to another, while attaching their own wallet seed phrases. Researchers have found that these wallets hold some funds as bait, such as large amounts of USD stablecoin USDT on the Tron blockchain, but lack sufficient TRX tokens for transaction fees. This leads those looking to steal funds to believe that by transferring a small amount of TRX to this wallet, they can steal the money inside.
The Kaspersky article further points out that when others transfer TRX to the bait wallet as transaction fees, the TRX is immediately sent to another wallet controlled by the scammers. Moreover, these bait wallets are set up as multi-signature wallets, requiring multiple authorizations to carry out outbound transactions.
Transaction records of the bait wallet (Source: Kaspersky)
Sytnik stated that in this situation, “the scammers are somewhat like ‘digital Robin Hoods’ since this scheme primarily targets other wrongdoers.” The researcher advised against attempting to access someone else’s cryptocurrency wallet, even if they provide the seed phrase, and to remain vigilant about any cryptocurrency-related messages from strangers.
