Fraudster gets scammed by exploiting ledger spy chip and loses almost $5 million in bitcoins.

Chainalysis says a fraudster who conned people through fake online businesses became one of the biggest victims of compromised hardware wallets.

A cryptocurrency scammer who made millions through fake job offers lost more than $4.9 million worth of bitcoins after thieves compromised Ledger hardware wallets.

Chainalysis said the fraudster transferred the proceeds of his scheme to three wallet addresses, from which the attackers stole 60 bitcoins.

The theft was linked to Ledger devices sold by Southeast Asian vendor CryptoBilis, which contained unauthorized implants capable of transmitting wallet recovery information over a mobile network.

A cryptocurrency scammer who defrauded millions by offering fake online jobs has fallen victim to another scam, losing more than $4.9 million worth of bitcoins through Ledger hardware wallets.

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis announced Thursday on X that the criminal collected the bitcoins through a so-called assignment scam, where people are initially paid to post fake product reviews or boost online sales. They are then told that their accounts have negative balances and that they must deposit their money before they can withdraw their supposed earnings.

According to Chainalysis, the person behind the operation transferred the proceeds of the illegal activity to three Ledger wallet addresses, which the thieves emptied and took 60 BTC.

The incident adds a twist to the ledger security breach involving devices sold by Southeast Asian vendor Cryptobilis. Researchers discovered unauthorized hardware implants that were able to transmit wallet recovery information over a mobile network, allowing attackers to access bitcoins stored on compromised devices.