Crypto Holder Loses $282 Million in Trezor Impersonation Scam

A cryptocurrency holder has lost around $282 million worth of Bitcoin and Litecoin after falling victim to a social engineering attack involving scammers impersonating Trezor support staff.

According to blockchain security firm ZeroShadow, the victim provided a 12-word recovery phrase to attackers on January 10, 2026, allowing them to access the wallet and transfer approximately $139 million in Bitcoin and $153 million in Litecoin.

The incident was not linked to any security breach involving Trezor’s wallet software or private key infrastructure. Instead, investigators identified it as an impersonation scam designed to trick users into revealing sensitive wallet information.

After gaining access, the attackers moved the stolen assets through the THORChain cross-chain bridge within minutes and converted part of the funds into Monero using instant exchange services. ZeroShadow’s monitoring team detected the transactions and helped freeze around $700,000 worth of assets shortly after the theft was identified.

The case highlights the risks of cryptocurrency-related social engineering attacks, where fraudsters target users by pretending to represent legitimate wallet providers, exchanges or support teams.

Security experts have repeatedly warned that legitimate wallet providers will not request users’ recovery phrases or seed words. Once disclosed, these phrases can provide complete access to cryptocurrency wallets and allow funds to be transferred without recovery options.

The incident adds to growing concerns around crypto asset security, as attackers increasingly focus on exploiting user behaviour rather than directly targeting blockchain infrastructure.