Nigerian Scammer Posing as Trump Ally Steve Witkoff Stole 250K in Crypto From One Political Donor
Though the scammer then took steps to launder their ill-gotten gains, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was able to recover and freeze 40,300 USDT.ETH, half of which was found in a Binance account in the name of Ehiremen Aigbokhan, a Lagos-based fraudster or “yahoo boy.”
A Nigeria-based scammer posing as Steve Witkoff, a long-time ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, stole approximately $250,000 in crypto from a would-be political donor, according to a recent press announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
According to court documents, the scammer created a spoofed email address that closely resembled Witkoff’s legitimate Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee email address, and was able to trick at least one donor into depositing $250,000 worth of USDT.ETH into the scammer’s wallet. Though the scammer then took steps to launder their ill-gotten gains, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was able to recover and freeze 40,300 USDT.ETH, half of which was found in a Binance account in the name of Ehiremen Aigbokhan, a Lagos-based fraudster or “yahoo boy.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has moved to return the recovered funds to the victim. Over $210,000 in crypto sent to the scammer has not yet been recovered.
