Two MoonPay executives lose $250,000 to Nigerian impersonation scam via fake email address

Summary

Two executives at MoonPay were victims of a $250,000 scam by a Nigerian fraudster impersonating Steve Witkoff, a former U.S. special envoy to the Middle East. The scam occurred when the victims sent money to a fake email address, steve_witkoff@t47lnaugural.com, which used a lowercase "L" instead of an uppercase "I" in the domain. The victims, identified as "Ivan" and "Mouna," are likely MoonPay CEO Ivan Soto-Wright and CFO Mouna Ammar Siala. The scammer’s wallet, linked to the transaction, is registered to Ehiremen Aigbohan in Lagos, Nigeria. IP address data confirmed the scam emails originated from Nigeria. The U.S. Department of Justice revealed the scam in a document related to the seizure of 40,350 USDT.