A cryptocurrency investor has successfully recovered $129 million in USDT hours after mistakenly sending the funds to a phishing address on the TRON blockchain.
The incident, reported by blockchain security platform Scam Sniffer, began when the investor accidentally transferred the substantial sum to a fraudulent address that closely resembled the intended recipient’s address. Despite conducting a test transaction of 100 USDT, the investor overlooked the mismatch before sending the larger amount.
???? ALERT: Never copy-paste addresses from transaction history!
A user lost $129M after copying the wrong address from their transfer history. Fortunately, the scammer returned the funds within an hour! ????
(credits: SlowMist_Team) pic.twitter.com/Xq4JdwabpG
— Scam Sniffer | Web3 Anti-Scam (@realScamSniffer) November 20, 2024
According to data from Tronscan, the transfer took place at 09:05 UTC. Shortly after, the stolen funds were moved to a new wallet, making it seem like they were lost for good. However, in an unexpected twist, the holder of the wallet returned 90% of the funds—116.7 million USDT—by 09:58 UTC. The remaining 12.96 million USDT was returned nearly five hours later.
Once the funds were restored, the investor quickly redirected them to the original intended address, where they remain secure.
The motives behind the rare recovery remain unclear. Some speculate the perpetrator feared detection or legal consequences due to the high-profile nature of the transaction, while others believe the return was an attempt to avoid wallet blacklisting by major platforms.
This case stands out as an anomaly amid the growing number of phishing scams in the crypto industry. Recently, another investor, known online as “Still in the Game,” suffered a $6.09 million loss in a phishing attack targeting their Gigachad (GIGA) token holdings.
The attack involved a fake Zoom link that granted malicious actors access to their wallets. In an X post, the investor explained that the sell-off, which caused a significant drop in GIGA’s value, was triggered by unauthorized access to their funds, and though it hurts, he promised to be back.
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