Recently, I’ve seen people around me get their USDT stolen. It takes five minutes to deposit $500k into a bank, but clicking a link and it’s gone in less than a second. More and more people are falling into these traps.

Domestic scammers have now upgraded from traditional telecom fraud to cryptocurrency scams, and their methods are getting more ruthless. I’ve summarized the most common USDT theft scams currently, just to give everyone a warning.

First, you need to understand what USDT theft is — scammers use various methods to transfer USDT from your digital wallet. Why do they like stealing USDT so much? Because cryptocurrencies are not legally protected domestically. If you report to the police, they often don’t even know what USDT is, and some will directly tell you it’s not protected and won’t even file a case. So victims often have to accept their bad luck.

I’ve seen three main methods of USDT theft. The first is QR code contract authorization scams. The scammer sends you a QR code during a transaction for you to scan, which looks like a transfer, but actually authorizes them to control your wallet. Normally, a QR code for a transfer shows a transfer address, but in this scam, the QR code resolves to a third-party redirect link. This is especially easy to fool beginners — those who think crypto offers high returns with no risk are most vulnerable. After being scammed, they often thank the scammer foolishly.

The second method is even more vicious — clipboard virus. Some say this is the most malicious USDT theft method. Scammers send you a trojan virus file with an enticing filename. Once you download and open it, any transfer links you copy afterward will be replaced with their address. For example, if you copy an address ending with 123, it might change to 567 when pasted. So never click on suspicious download links; this is the most direct way to protect yourself.

The third method is fake wallet USDT theft, which is also a major scam area. Since cold wallets are open source, it’s not hard to clone one. Scammers first attract you with high returns, prompting you to download a fake wallet. Small transfers in the beginning are fine, but once you receive a large deposit, the fake wallet will lock your account and demand a deposit to unfreeze it. It turns from a scam into a “pig-butchering” scheme, gradually draining your funds. By the time you realize it, it’s already too late.

Honestly, the scams related to cryptocurrency USDT theft are endless. The key is not to be blinded by high returns. Scammers are already eyeing your principal long before you get attracted by the profits. Protecting your wallet is more important than anything else.