The world of cryptocurrencies is plagued by fraudsters and scammers. The industry has experienced numerous scams of varying degrees, ranging from small-scale phishing schemes to large-scale impersonation scams. In a recent incident, a scammer posing as the President of the United States, Joe Biden, attempted to steal $450,000 worth of Bitcoin.
Fortunately, the attempted scam was thwarted by the joint efforts of Kraken and prominent streamer Kitboga. As previously mentioned, Kraken uses a unique technique called “scam baiting” to identify and expose fraudulent wallets. They achieve this by creating a fake cryptocurrency account on their platform to attract and trap ill-doers.
Here’s how Kraken & Kitboga dealt with ‘fake Joe Biden’
In an incident on May 10, Kitboga, a well-known streamer who specializes in exposing scammers, had an encounter with a fraudulent actor. He utilized a “custom environment” created by Kraken to interfere with the scammer. This collaboration came to fruition thanks to Nick Percoco, Kraken’s Chief Security Officer, and Kitboga himself. Kitboga has a considerable following of 1.2 million followers on Twitch and 3 million followers on YouTube. His YouTube profile reads,
“Everyday there are scammers taking advantage of people. I call them to waste their time, walk people through their ‘script’ and lies, report info when I can, and otherwise make light of a dark situation.”
In his latest video, Kitboga was seen with $450,000 worth of Bitcoin in his fake Kraken wallet. This caught the eye of the scammer. In the course of the encounter, the scammer was able to view the funds through remote computer screen-sharing software. Soon the scammer became highly enthusiastic about the possibility of receiving a significant payout. But things did not go as expected for the scammer.
Kitboga can be seen portraying an old woman in the video. He irritated the scammer by deliberately entering an incorrect wallet address before transferring the funds, which further infuriated the scammer. As a result, the scammer began using foul language and swearing at Kitboga.
Should all exchanges take similar measures?
While this collaboration is certainly a fun way to deal with scammers, it could also aid in avoiding potential scams. In this case, the scammer provided a BTC wallet address hosted by Kraken. This could potentially allow Kraken to identify the scammer and flag their activity, as the exchange can track transactions associated with its own wallets.
Furthermore, this highlighted the importance of exchanges and other crypto service providers taking measures to detect and prevent fraudulent activity on their platforms. By doing so, they can help protect their customers and promote a safer, more trustworthy crypto ecosystem.