In the wake of Donald Trump’s recent endorsement of cryptocurrency donations for his campaign, a surge of scammers is preying on his loyal supporters.
Scammers have seized this opportunity to exploit Trump’s base through fake crypto websites and deceptive donation centres.
Trump’s announcement that his campaign would accept crypto donations, combined with his recent federal conviction, led to a massive increase in donations.
This has, unfortunately, also attracted a wave of fraudsters.
Netcraft, a London-based cybersecurity firm, has been tracking these scams closely.
The firm discovered numerous fraudulent schemes posing as the Trump campaign, including misspelt web domains and misleading phishing efforts.
These fake sites, such as “donalbjtrump[.]com” and “doonaldjtrump[.]com,” are designed to look legitimate but are set up to steal funds from unsuspecting supporters.
The scammers are sophisticated, swiftly adapting to current events.
On May 31, following Trump’s guilty verdict, they adjusted their tactics to align with the “Never Surrender” narrative promoted by Trump’s campaign.
This urgency and emotional appeal have made it easier for scammers to deceive supporters.
Netcraft reported that on the day following Trump’s campaign announcement, numerous fraudulent domains were registered, featuring minor typographical errors to trick users.
These sites often include crypto donation centres, mimicking legitimate processes used by the Trump campaign, such as Coinbase.
Some phishing pages impersonated other crypto payment systems like Coingate, Plisio, and Oxapay.
Netcraft also found scams targeting traditional payment methods, redirecting users to the genuine campaign site only when non-crypto payment options were selected.
The scammers’ tactics are highly sophisticated, employing AI to create convincing and elaborate schemes.
They have been using mass emails and texts to lure potential donors to fake websites.
Netcraft’s investigation even involved communication with a scammer posing as the “Trump National Committee,” uncovering valuable information about the methods used for money laundering and other criminal activities.
Netcraft noted that with the Trump campaign collecting over $50 million within 24 hours of his guilty verdict, it’s difficult to estimate how much money might have been diverted by these scams.
