A hacker tricked a crypto investor into sending over $250,000 using fake emails that claimed to be related to President Donald Trump’s 2025 inauguration, according to U.S. federal officials.
The scammer pretended to be Steve Witkoff, the co-chair of Trump’s inauguration committee, and sent emails asking for donations. These emails looked very real, but they were fake. The victim ended up sending more than $250,000 worth of cryptocurrency (USDT and ETH).
Once the scammer received the money, they quickly moved it into many different cryptocurrency accounts. Some of the stolen crypto ended up in a Binance account in Nigeria under the name Ehiremen Aigbokhan.
How to Avoid Such Scams
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro warned crypto users to double or even triple-check where they’re sending their cryptocurrency. She said it’s very hard to get the money back once it’s gone due to how blockchain works.
Companies like Binance and Tether helped the FBI by freezing accounts that held some of the stolen funds. So far, federal prosecutors are trying to recover about $40,000 from two untouched accounts.
How the Scam Worked
Officials explained that the hacker used a trick called a “business email compromise scam.” They changed a letter in the email address — replacing a capital “I” with a lowercase “L” — to make it look like the official address, @t47Inaugural.com.
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Interestingly, both Donald Trump and Steve Witkoff are also involved in real cryptocurrency businesses. Last year, they started a company called World Liberty Financial with their sons.
