A U.S. citizen found herself at the center of a scheme to embezzle $5 million in cryptocurrency.
An investigation conducted by renowned on-chain detective ZachXBT has uncovered a new facet of fraud in the crypto industry. American Tiffany Milanovich, as it turned out, played a key role in an organized group that stole at least $5 million from digital asset owners. The scheme was built on a classic but dangerous method—impersonating customer support staff.
Milanovich, acting as a "call operator," phoned victims, posing as a representative of technical support for crypto services and exchanges. Under this pretext, she convinced users to hand over control of their funds. After draining accounts, the fraudster did not hesitate to record videos mocking the victims, indicating cynicism and disregard for the consequences.
Attack Mechanics and Scale of Damage
The group operated in a coordinated manner. Milanovich pretended to work in real support for hardware wallets and centralized platforms, while infrastructure for phishing sites was provided by her accomplices under the pseudonyms "bled" and "harm." One attack, dated June 2026, resulted in the loss of $1.2 million in bitcoin and ether—funds were withdrawn from a victim's Trezor wallet. It all started with a fake email from BitcoinIRA, signed by Patricia Massi.
Notably, most of the stolen funds still remain untouched in on-chain wallets, suggesting possible inexperience of the criminals or their inability to quickly liquidate large sums. In another incident, which occurred in October 2025, a victim lost $500,000 in bitcoin stored in a Coinbase account. Milanovich, according to the data, even complained about a "small share" and published withdrawal screenshots, boasting about her activities.
Traces Lead to Known Figures
ZachXBT also links Milanovich to John "Lick" Dagita, who was previously accused of stealing cryptocurrency seized by U.S. authorities. Dagita was arrested in March in Saint Martin, highlighting the international nature of such criminal networks.
This story is just the tip of the iceberg. According to FBI data, in 2025 alone, more than 80,000 complaints were recorded regarding impersonation of technical support and government agency staff, with losses exceeding $2.9 billion. Chainalysis analysts note that the number of such schemes in the cryptocurrency sector has grown by nearly 1400% over the year. This is an alarming signal: the industry is facing the professionalization of fraud, and users need to exercise maximum vigilance in response to any requests to transfer funds.
My opinion: The rise in such attacks is a direct consequence of insufficient user education and weak protection from exchanges. Centralized platforms must implement multi-factor authentication and strict verification protocols for any withdrawal requests, otherwise trust in the industry will be completely undermined.