Victim Loses $282 Million in Bitcoin and Litecoin to Hardware Wallet Scam

A staggering loss of over $282 million in Bitcoin and Litecoin occurred on January 10 due to a hardware wallet scam, marking the largest individual theft in cryptocurrency for 2026. This incident surpasses the previous high-profile scam in August 2024. The attacker swiftly exchanged the stolen assets for Monero, manipulating multiple blockchain networks to cover their tracks.

Key Takeaways

Record Theft: Over $282 million lost, the largest individual cryptocurrency theft of 2026.
Social Engineering Tactics: The scam involved sophisticated social engineering techniques, similar to past scams.
Ongoing Threat: Social engineering is a dominant threat, with many scams targeting naive crypto users.
High Financial Impact: Crypto theft reached $3.4 billion in 2025, highlighting the growing risks in the industry.
Prevention: Experts stress the need for users to adopt better security measures against scams.

Victim Loses $282M in Bitcoin and Litecoin to Hardware Wallet Scam

Record-Breaking Theft Exceeds Previous Social Engineering Attack

The theft of $282 million dramatically eclipses the previous record for social engineering fraud, involving a $243 million scam in August 2024 linked to Genesis creditors. In that incident, scammers impersonated representatives from Google and Gemini, persuading the victim to reset their two-factor authentication and grant screen access through AnyDesk. This ultimately led to the exposure of private keys associated with Bitcoin Core.

ZachXBT's investigation of this earlier incident resulted in multiple arrests, some occurring in Miami and Los Angeles. A total of twelve individuals faced charges related to the $243 million theft, including significant figures like Danny Zulfiqar Khan, who was arrested in Dubai.

This recent theft underscores the evolving nature of social engineering tactics, which continue to target individuals despite growing awareness and security advancements in the cryptocurrency sector.

Persistent Threats Target Crypto Users Across Multiple Vectors

Social engineering schemes now dominate the landscape of cryptocurrency theft, with scammers often impersonating support representatives from reputable platforms. For example, Ronald Spektor from Brooklyn faces charges for allegedly stealing $16 million from around 100 Coinbase users by posing as company employees and leveraging fear tactics for swift decisions.

Notably, North Korean hackers have revived their activities using advanced social engineering methods. MetaMask security researcher Taylor Monahan described their tactics, illustrating how they exploit prior conversations to deceive victims.

Cybercriminals from North Korea have reportedly stolen over $300 million using fake video conferencing platforms that compromise credentials and private keys. They lure victims into Zoom links that appear to connect to real contacts and distribute malicious "patch" files disguised as updates, which install Remote Access Trojans.

Despite a 60% drop in exploit losses reported in December by PeckShield, with total losses amounting to $76 million, significant threats like address poisoning scams and private key leaks still persist. For instance, one victim lost $50 million after accidentally sending funds to a fraudulent address resembling the intended one, while a key leak from a multi-signature wallet led to losses of $27.3 million.

Data indicates that total cryptocurrency theft reached $3.4 billion from January to early December 2025, with American losses from crypto crimes peaking at $9.3 billion in 2024. Investment fraud constituted $5.7 billion of these losses, while individuals over 60 suffered the largest personal losses at $2.8 billion.

To combat these threats, security experts emphasize that technical solutions alone can't fully defend against social engineering. “Assume every unsolicited message is a potential attack,” suggests Navin Gupta, CEO of blockchain analytics platform Crystal. This mindset could eliminate 80% of potential threat vectors.

Experts further advise users to thoroughly verify destination addresses before initiating transactions, avoid SMS-based two-factor authentication in favor of hardware security keys, and refrain from responding to unsolicited messages claiming security breaches. Since cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible, victims often face insurmountable challenges in recovering stolen funds once hackers obtain private keys or trick users into authorizing transactions.