In December 2024, a scammer who believed he was minutes away from stealing millions of dollars in Bitcoin instead collapsed into panic when his carefully staged con turned against him.
What unfolded was a sting operation that exposed the mechanics of a common crypto scam and the desperation of those who run them.
A fraudster posing as a recovery expert cold-called what he thought was an elderly man with a “lost” Bitcoin account. The man, played by pranksters working with YouTuber and scam-baiter Kitboga, claimed his son had problems accessing an account that held millions in cryptocurrency. The scammer seized on the opportunity, promising he could help retrieve the funds but only if he was given remote access to the victim’s computer.
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Once inside, the fraudster began instructing the supposed victim step by step. He claimed the only way to “verify” the account was to transfer Bitcoin to a wallet address he controlled. The bait was enormous: he told them they had more than $7 million in Bitcoin to unlock.
“Don’t type it by yourself. Don’t type it. Don’t do anything,” he ordered repeatedly, anxious to maintain control as he guided the victim through the supposed process. The family characters on the other end, however, deliberately fumbled and confused his instructions.
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As the scammer pushed them to send the funds, things quickly spiraled. At one point, the victim’s balance suddenly plummeted. “Wait a minute. What? Just my balance. My balance is 30. It was 154,000 and now it’s 39,000. What’s going on? What just happened?” the scammer exclaimed.
The “family” feigned ignorance. “Is this a rug pull? I’ve heard about those. Are you rug pulling us?” one asked, turning the scammer’s own language of fraud back on him.
Every attempt by the fraudster to regain authority slipped further out of his hands. He begged for silence so he could type the “correct” address: “You are not letting me work. You are just moving your purse again and again… you’ll lose the money just like this.” Yet the fake victims pushed ahead, pretending to make transfers to the wrong wallet.
The moment of collapse came when a withdrawal of nearly $7 million flashed across the screen. Instead of rejoicing at the apparent haul, the scammer realized he had been locked out of his own plan. “Do not do that… you’ll lose the money… what are you doing?” he shouted, as if clinging to the last scraps of his scheme.
In the background, the fake family continued to twist the knife. “Okay, I think we’re verified. You know what you did? Yes, verified,” they said, mocking his earlier assurances that verification was the key to recovery.
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Sep 14, 2025, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.