MoonPay Executives Lose $250K in Elaborate Crypto Scam

Key Takeaways

MoonPay recently fell victim to a high-profile scam that targeted its CEO and CFO, despite the company's expansion into all 50 U.S. states, shedding light on the risks associated with crypto adoption.

An elaborate online scam led to two top MoonPay executives losing over $250,000, as per a U.S. Department of Justice filing.

The filing reveals that the scam involved 40,350 USDT, currently frozen in Tether accounts and subject to government recovery efforts.

While the victims are identified as 'Ivan' and 'Mouna' in the filing, it is likely that they are Ivan Soto-Wright, MoonPay's co-founder and CEO, and Mouna Ammari Siala, the company's CFO, according to crypto outlet NOTUS.

The scammers convinced the executives to transfer funds to an account they believed was linked to real estate developer Steve Witkoff, a former co-chair of Donald Trump's 2017 inaugural committee.

According to the DOJ filing, 'IP geolocation data consistently showed emails from these accounts originating from Nigeria, and not the United States.'

Authorities suspect that Aigbokhan orchestrated the scam involving 40,350 USDT and cross-border money transfers within the U.S.

This incident comes at a critical juncture for MoonPay, following its regulatory progress. The company recently obtained the BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services, allowing it to operate in all 50 states.

As crypto-related scams grow in sophistication, the need for stronger regulatory oversight becomes more apparent. The FBI's latest IC3 report highlighted a 66% increase in losses to fraud in 2024 compared to 2023, emphasizing the importance of safeguarding users in the expanding digital asset space.

It remains to be seen how MoonPay will navigate this setback and uphold user trust and platform integrity going forward.

According to the source: AMBCrypto.