An American woman turned out to be a key link in a scheme to steal $5 million in cryptocurrency.
My analytical work tracking crypto crimes has uncovered a new high-profile story: U.S. citizen Tiffany Milanovich is directly involved in the theft of over $5 million from digital asset holders. The scheme was built on classic social engineering, but with an unexpected "human" face.
Milanovich acted as a "call operator": she called victims, posing as a customer support employee of crypto services, and convinced them to hand over control of their funds. After successfully draining their accounts, she recorded videos mocking the victims — such bravado ultimately became one of the pieces of evidence.
Attack Mechanics and Scale of Losses
The criminal group Milanovich operated with mimicked the work of real technical support for hardware wallets and centralized exchanges. The infrastructure for phishing sites was provided by accomplices under the pseudonyms "bled" and "harm." In June 2026, one victim lost $1.2 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum stored on a Trezor wallet. The attack began with a fake email from BitcoinIRA, signed by a certain Patricia Massie.
Notably, a significant portion of the stolen funds has not yet been withdrawn — the assets remain on on-chain wallets, offering a chance for recovery. In October 2025, the group pulled off a similar operation, depriving another investor of $500,000 in BTC from their Coinbase account. Milanovich then complained about a "small share" and even published transaction screenshots, trying to embellish her haul.
Traces of Luxury and Links to Other Cases
According to my data, Milanovich did not hide her lifestyle: on social media, she boasted about purchases of luxury goods and casino bets made with the victims' money. Some "boastful" videos were edited to make the theft amounts appear even larger than they actually were.
I also established a connection between Milanovich and John "Lick" Dagita, who was previously suspected of stealing cryptocurrency seized by U.S. authorities. In March, Dagita was detained in Saint Martin.
A Trend That Demands Attention
This is not an isolated case: the FBI recorded over 80,000 complaints about impersonation of tech support staff and government agencies in 2025 alone, with losses exceeding $2.9 billion. According to Chainalysis, the number of such schemes in the crypto sector has grown by nearly 1400% year over year.
My conclusion: this story is a vivid example of how the human factor remains the weakest link in digital asset security. Technical protective measures are powerless when the user themselves hands over keys under the pressure of a convincing narrative. Investors should adopt a "two-channel" rule: never confirm transactions over the phone, but only through official apps and verified communication channels. Otherwise, you could be the next victim.