A cryptocurrency user has suffered one of the largest losses ever recorded in the crypto sector due to a social engineering attack, resulting in the theft of over $282 million worth of Bitcoin and Litecoin.
The incident occurred on January 10, 2026, around 11:00 pm UTC. Blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that the victim was tricked into revealing their seed phrase, which granted the attacker full control over a hardware wallet. The perpetrator then quickly moved the stolen funds across multiple networks in an attempt to obscure the transaction trail.
According to ZachXBT, the stolen assets included 2.05 million Litecoin (LTC), currently valued at $153 million, and 1,459 Bitcoin (BTC), worth approximately $139 million. The attacker immediately began converting the stolen assets into Monero (XMR) using several instant exchange services, which subsequently triggered a notable spike in XMR's price.
Concurrently, significant portions of the stolen Bitcoin were bridged across Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), and Litecoin using THORChain. This cross-chain maneuver allowed the attacker to transfer value between different blockchains without needing to utilize centralized exchanges. The activity has reignited discussions regarding the potential for abuse of decentralized cross-chain infrastructure during large-scale theft events.
Approximately $700,000 of Stolen Funds Frozen
In a LinkedIn post on Friday, security firm ZeroShadow announced that it had successfully traced and flagged portions of the stolen funds in real time after being alerted by blockchain monitoring teams. Within approximately 20 minutes, about $700,000 worth of the stolen assets were reportedly frozen before they could be fully converted into privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.
ZeroShadow indicated that the victim was identified as a Bitcoin address belonging to an individual who had been deceived into sharing their seed phrase by an actor impersonating Trezor "Value Wallet" support.
ZachXBT also refuted speculation that the attack might be connected to a state-sponsored hacking group, stating, "It’s not North Korea."
Elderly US Bitcoin Holder Lost $330 Million in Similar Scam
Last year, an elderly individual in the United States reportedly fell victim to a $330 million Bitcoin theft in another significant social engineering scam. Blockchain data indicated that the victim had held over 3,000 BTC since 2017 with minimal prior activity.
Following the movement of the funds, the attacker employed peel chains and multiple instant exchanges to launder the Bitcoin, ultimately swapping a substantial portion of the stolen BTC into Monero to obscure its origin.