15 months for fake staking: how a scammer on Telegram made $1.4 million by impersonating crypto influencers
A New York resident, Noman Salim, has received a 15-month federal prison sentence for an elaborate scheme in which he impersonated well-known crypto influencers. The sentence also includes three years of supervised release after leaving prison.
Salim operated from December 2020 to March 2021. His strategy was simple but effective: he copied the usernames of popular crypto opinion leaders on Telegram and created public channels under those names, quickly attracting thousands of subscribers.
Trusting the "big name," victims paid between $500 and $600 in cryptocurrency for access to an exclusive VIP chat. There, they believed they could communicate directly with the influencer himself. Salim went further: he copied the username of a second crypto authority, launching a duplicate scheme that allowed him to reach an even wider audience.
Inside these chats, he offered staking contracts with fixed returns for periods of 30 to 90 days. Large investors were promised higher payouts. However, there was no real staking — Salim simply appropriated all incoming assets.
Mechanics of the Deception and Fund Recovery
Victims transferred cryptocurrency to wallets controlled by the scammer. Once the digital assets were in his possession, he immediately cut off communication and disappeared. According to the investigation, the scheme netted Salim at least $1.4 million in cryptocurrency and fiat dollars over several months.
Notably, he has already returned most of this amount to the state as part of a pretrial agreement. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Deborah K. Chasanu. Salim pleaded guilty in September 2025.
This case is a stark illustration of the growing wave of fraud exploiting trust in public figures on social media. It also demonstrates that authorities are increasingly pursuing criminals, even when they hide behind anonymous crypto wallets.
Cryptalist Analysis: This sentence is an important signal for the market. It shows that regulators have learned to link anonymous blockchain transactions to real individuals. Investors should remember: if an "influencer" on Telegram promises guaranteed staking returns, it is almost 100% a red flag. Genuine opinion leaders rarely offer paid VIP chats with direct access.