The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration mistakenly sent $55,000 in USDT cryptocurrency to a scammer

American authorities accidentally transferred cryptocurrency to a fraudster. This happened due to the inattention of employees of the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Here's What We Know

In the spring of this year, the Drug Enforcement Administration seized over $500,000 in USDT cryptocurrency from two accounts on the Binance exchange. The attacker spotted the transfer being made to the Marshals Service.

The DOJ division received less than $50, likely as a test transfer. The fraudster then created his own cryptocurrency wallet with the first five and last four characters matching the Marshals Service address.

The attacker hoped that agency employees would copy the incorrect address. They did. The fraudster ended up with $55,000 in cryptocurrency. Representatives of the Drug Enforcement Administration appealed to Tether to block the funds, but the cryptocurrency had already been converted.

Source: Forbes