Scammers exploit the fact that on blockchains like Ethereum, BNB Chain, Tron, or Solana, anyone can create their own token in minutes, with a freely chosen name, abbreviation, and logo. There is no requirement for uniqueness.
They create a token called "USDT" or "Tether USD" and send it to the victim's wallet. A balance in the millions then appears in the wallet or explorer. However, the token is worthless: no exchange listing, no liquidity, no market price, and usually only two holders.
Typical pattern: Victim invests real money, platform displays fictitious profits, but instead of payouts, fake tokens are received. Attempts to sell fail with messages such as "No liquidity" or "Token not supported".
What matters is never the displayed name, but the technical identifier, i.e., the smart contract address, mint address, or issuer address. The genuine USDT has well-known addresses, such as 0xdAC17F9… on Ethereum.
The contract, creator, total quantity, holder structure, trading venues, liquidity, and creation date are examined forensically. From a criminal law perspective, the worthless token is not an asset but often part of the fraudulent activity itself.
Den Originalartikel finden Sie auf Finanz-Forensik.
