American woman found at the center of a $5 million cryptocurrency kidnapping scheme: new details of the investigation
The analytical community was shaken by the news of a U.S. citizen's involvement in a large-scale theft of crypto assets totaling at least $5 million. The individual in question is Tiffany Milanovich, whose name surfaced during a detailed on-chain investigation conducted by the well-known independent researcher ZachXBT. The expert's findings indicate that the woman served as a "call operator" in a criminal group specializing in social engineering.
The scheme was refined to the point of automation. Milanovich, posing as a customer support employee of major crypto services and exchanges, contacted victims by phone. Using convincing cover stories and psychological pressure, she managed to get funds transferred to addresses controlled by the attackers. Notably, after successfully draining accounts, she did not hesitate to record mocking videos directed at the deceived users, demonstrating complete disregard for their losses.
Mechanics of the Crimes and Scale of Losses
The infrastructure for the attacks, including phishing sites mimicking the interfaces of legitimate platforms, was provided by Milanovich's accomplices, known under the pseudonyms "bled" and "harm." One of the largest losses was recorded in June 2026, when a victim lost $1.2 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum. The attack began with a fake email purportedly from BitcoinIRA, and ultimately the funds were withdrawn from a Trezor hardware wallet.
In another episode, dated October 2025, an affected user lost $500,000 in BTC from their Coinbase account. According to the investigation, Milanovich complained about her "small share" in that case, posting transaction screenshots on social media. Traces of spending led to luxury boutiques and casinos—part of the stolen funds was gambled away. At the same time, as the analyst notes, part of the stolen assets still remains untouched in on-chain wallets, leaving hope for their recovery.
Context and Growing Threat
This case is just the tip of the iceberg. The FBI recorded more than 80,000 complaints about such schemes involving impersonation of tech support employees in 2025, with total damages exceeding $2.9 billion. According to Chainalysis estimates, the number of attacks using social engineering in the crypto sector has grown by nearly 1400% over the past year.
Expert opinion: This story is yet another reminder that even the most secure hardware wallets will not help if the user themselves hands over keys or confirms transactions dictated by scammers. The crypto industry needs to implement next-generation multi-factor authentication and teach users basic hygiene rules, otherwise we risk seeing exponential growth in such crimes.