The U.S. Department of Justice likely accidentally revealed the names of victims of a Nigerian scammer who stole over $250,000. The victims were senior executives at MoonPay, reports NOTUS.
According to a seizure statement for frozen 40,350 USDT, two victims sent money to a person impersonating Steve Witkoff, a U.S. special envoy to the Middle East. At the time of the incident, he served as co-chair of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee.
In the document, the victims are named “Ivan” and “Mouna.” NOTUS noted a coincidence: the CEO of the crypto payment company MoonPay is Ivan Soto-Wright, and the CFO is Mouna Ammari Siala.
Additionally, the wallet involved in the $250,300 transaction is listed on Etherscan as linked to MoonPay. A separate 2023 lawsuit claimed Soto-Wright used the same address to fund his personal account.
According to case materials, the victims fell for a common phishing trick involving fake emails. The scammer sent emails from the address [email protected], where the capital letter “I” was replaced with a lowercase “l.” This tactic is often used by fake account creators.
The criminal also sent emails from [email protected], disguised in a similar way.
Binance data shows the scammer’s wallet on the exchange is registered to Ehiremena Aigbohan, a resident of Lagos, Nigeria.
“IP geolocation data consistently showed emails from these accounts originated in Nigeria, not the U.S. It appears Aigbohan received international transfers from the U.S. to Nigeria as a result of his fraudulent activity,” the DOJ emphasized.
Recall, in June, hackers attacked Trezor users through the contact form on the official website.
