New Bitcoin Scam Unfolds: Old Wallets, Fake Lawyers

BitMEX research looked an alarm on July 8 after discovering what you call “Bitcoin’s ongoing fraud”. In X Publishing, the Analysis Office described a wave of small “dust” transactions sent to Bitcoin before 2012 that still contain large balances without prejudice. Each transaction carries the OP_RUTURN message reads: “Note to the owner: see Salomonbros (.) Com/Owner_notice.” One of the goals is a famous 1Feex portfolio that contains nearly 80,000 BTC stolen from Gox in March 2011 – its value now is approximately $ 8.6 billion.

Warning bitcoin fraud

The built -in link in the OP_RUTURN series is resolved to the “Salomon Brothers” website, with a “advisory board” of the original stars of bond trade in the 1980s. The site claims that he has taken a “constructive” possession of the sleeping governor and gives any “good -intention” ninety days – until October 5, 2025 – to prove ownership or the loss of all rights. He says, he says, it can be provided either by signing a series transaction or by sending personal information through a web form.

Bitmex Research Calls Ensuring previous attempts by Craig Wright and its partners to seize the currencies of Mount Jooks through creative legal theories. Independent investigators agree: Security analyst @0xzilayo described OP_RUTURN programs “definitely attempts to hunt and have no legitimacy.”

The fraud coincides with an explosion of the coordinated activity revealed by Bluchin. On July 4-a holiday was transferred in the United States, which witnessed a standard movement on the chain-80,000 BTC was transferred out of eighteen governors of eight decades within minutes from each other, where each portfolio received for the first time a trilogy of the OP_return messages that reached its peak in the notice of “Salomon Brothers”.

Researchers believe that the fraudsters exploit OP_RUTURN because the OPCODE code gives them an arbitrary text on “Graffiti” on Blockchain without spending important funds, ensuring that any future owner-or a curious observer on the series-looks at the notice.

Bitmex’s explicit advice: “Don’t fill this model.” Any person carrying coins in a title that one of these messages can prove safe control by transferring money to a new portfolio; Any person without a private key has nothing to earn and a lot to lose by responding. Law enforcement agencies have been notified, but no jurisdiction has yet been announced.

The episode emphasizes the increasing direction: attackers return to the early history of Bitcoin, and the exploitation of both technical primitives (OP_RUTURN) and legal gray areas to improve sleeping or stolen coins. It also highlights the permanent magnet of MT. Gox Saga, which – more than a decade of penetration – is still dumping opportunists to share false claims on the lost treasure on the stock exchange.

Currently, the safest path is to process any unwanted legal notice via Blockchain with severe doubts. In Bitcoin, the possession of the private key is still the only evidence for ownership that matters – it does not matter what the OP_RUTURN series may say or a glossy web site.

At the time of the press, BTC was traded at $ 108,811.

Distinctive image created with Dall.e, Chart from TradingView.com

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