US cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has offered a new way to flag malicious wallets setting up a fake cryptocurrency account on the exchange to “trick” bad actors.
On May 10, the popular streamer Kitboga whose content revolves around annoying scammers tweeted that Kraken had built a “custom environment” for him, which he used to foil a scam impersonating President Joe Biden By. Kitbot had run afoul of fraudsters about a year ago .In the accompanying video clip, Kitboga can be seen owning approximately $450,000 worth of Bitcoin In a fake crypto account he set up on Kraken.
The scammer then saw the funds via video remote computer screen-sharing software, which he allegedly tricked Kitboga's character into downloading, all too excited about a potentially huge payday.
However, the punchline came when Kitboga played an elderly woman in the video who mistakenly entered the scammer's wallet address before sending all the funds. As a result, the liar became very angry and began berating Kitboga with a stream of profanity.
Notably, the scammers appear to have provided a Kraken-hosted BTC wallet address, which in effect allows the cryptocurrency exchange to identify them and flag their activity. All of this appears to have been achieved through the collaboration of Kitboga and Kraken's chi ef security officer, Nick Percoco. Kitboga has 1.2 million followers on Twitch and 3 million on YouTube. His content usually revolves around comically wasting the time of call center scammers by playing a bunch of untechnical characters.
In some cases, he has also successfully shut down dubious sites by reporting fraudulent behavior to the hosting companies where they are stored.
"Cheaters take advantage of people every day. I call them out to waste their time, to educate people about their 'scripts' and lies, to report as much information as possible that would otherwise brighten a dark situation," he said. 's YouTube profile wrote. In a May 1 video, Kitboga highlighted a new BTC-related “social security scam” that targets victims via email or text message, claiming to have made strange purchases from their bank accounts. However, when victims call the number provided , the scammers claim their identities have been compromised and they need to withdraw all cash, buy BTC and send the funds to a “secure government wallet.”
Kitboga apparently had fun with the scammers by pretending to have their "grandson" buy 10,000 BTC and send it to the wrong address.
