Over $650K in One Year From 250 Victims on Twitter
Once again, it was blockchain investigator ZachXBT who was able to prove and dismantle the scam that Ape 31 had been running on Twitter for almost a year. The scammer, from the UK, had been sharing fake screenshots showing supernatural profits.
However, the screenshots were taken from a Bybit demo account, and many of the images were actually Photoshopped before being posted. The goal was to convince victims of his foolproof technique so they would pay him money.
The scammer would then receive money from the victims, immediately block them, and disappear. In order to get the money, Ape 31 would offer copy trading services for a fee of $250-$500.
Sometimes, Ape 31 would ask for additional money, invent administrative fees or fake money transfer fees.
Victims reveal details of the scam
One victim explained that he paid $500 to Ape 31 for the copy trading service. The scammer then demanded $20,000, promising to convert the liquidation price to zero in his name. The victim then made the transfer. In order to maintain its legitimacy, Ape 31 provided the victim with an API key to monitor the transactions in question.
It was all clearly a fake. The scammer then pressured the victim for an additional $20,000, claiming that the winnings could not be recovered until the $20,000 “fee” was paid. Ape 31 then disappeared.
Another victim sent $3,000 to Ape 31, after the scammer promised to increase the $10,000 to $100,000 within a few days. After the money was transferred, the scammer disappeared again.
According to ZachXBT, the scammer used just over 16 different wallets. According to his investigation, these addresses received over $650,000 in just one year. However, it is still possible that more funds were stolen.
Transaction Tracking and the Magic of Blockchain
It seems that the scammers have not yet grasped a simple truth: on the blockchain, everything is known. Everything is traceable. Everything is transparent. Nothing is anonymous, and everything is anonymous. Thus, ZachXBT was able to determine that the scammer was based in the UK and not in Singapore, as he claimed. His phone number and IP address (81.78. 179.107) were also used to pinpoint his exact location.
The scammer changed his name several times, sometimes calling himself Omar, sometimes Abernumeral, and sometimes ape31111. However, once ZachXBT’s investigation was published, the scammer’s accounts disappeared.
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