A blockchain investigator known as ZachXBT has uncovered a high-value social engineering attack that resulted in the loss of 783 BTC, approximately $91 million, from a single investor. According to public ledger analysis, the theft took place on Tuesday at 11:06 UTC when the victim was persuaded by fraudsters posing as exchange customer support to disclose sensitive recovery phrases.
Within 24 hours, the stolen Bitcoin was routed through Wasabi Wallet, a privacy-focused mixing service, to obscure its origin. The attacker consolidated the funds into a clean address before dispersing them in smaller batches to evade detection. ZachXBT ruled out involvement by state-backed Lazarus Group actors, noting that the patterns aligned with private phishing operations rather than sophisticated nation-state tactics.
Social engineering remains the leading exploit method in crypto, with over $2.1 billion lost to similar schemes in the first half of 2025. Tactics typically involve impersonation of hardware wallet firms or exchange hotlines, where victims are instructed to perform fake security updates that grant attackers full wallet access. Recent incidents against high-net-worth individuals have underscored the need for rigorous identity verification protocols.
Security experts recommend that users treat any unsolicited calls or messages as potential scams and verify all requests through official channels. Hardware wallet providers continue to reinforce multi-factor authentication and air-gapped signing methods to reduce attack surfaces. Despite technological improvements, user vigilance remains the most critical defense against social engineering.
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