Scammer Returns $129M After Crypto User’s Costly Transfer Error

A scammer has reportedly returned $129 million in USDT mistakenly sent by a user due to a transfer error. The incident occurred after the user copied an incorrect address from their transaction history.

🚨 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

Crypto anti-scam platform Scam Sniffer revealed that the funds were returned within an hour.

User Transfer Error

Notably, wallet interfaces often conceal the middle portion of addresses for aesthetic reasons, which can cause users to rely on incomplete details. Scammers take advantage of this by generating addresses that resemble the victim’s, matching the same starting and ending characters.

To further deceive, they send small or zero-value transactions to the victim’s wallet, making their address appear in the victim’s transaction history. As a result, users may unknowingly copy the malicious address when selecting recent transaction details.

To help users avoid such mishaps, Scam Sniffer recommends always verifying wallet addresses thoroughly, using bookmarks for trusted addresses, and double-checking details before making significant transfers. The platform also warned against copying wallet addresses directly from transaction histories.

“Never copy-paste addresses from transaction history!” the platform emphasized in a tweet.  

The recent user transfer error incident sparked widespread discussion on X (formerly Twitter), with reactions ranging from disbelief to skepticism. While some users praised the scammer’s decision to return the funds, others argued that the situation wasn’t a scam.

One user on X questioned using the term “scammer” in the context, stating that it doesn’t sound like a scam. Another suggested the recipient of the funds wasn’t a scammer but simply someone who “found a fortune and chose to do the right thing.”

Funds Returned

This is not the first instance of stolen funds being returned in crypto. In July, Rho Markets, a liquidity layer for Ethereum-based Scroll, narrowly avoided losing $7.6 million after a self-described hacker identified a misconfigured price oracle.

Similarly, in May, a scammer responsible for stealing 1,155 WBTC tokens (valued at $71 million) through an address poisoning attack initiated a dialogue with the victim and began refunding the funds, according to CoinTab.