Source: Lawyer Liu Honglin

0 1 A sad story

Recently, a friend came over to ask a question. After listening to it, I found out that it was a sad story.

He met a netizen on the Internet. Every once in a while, the other person would ask him if he wanted to buy oil. At first, he thought that the other person was in the oil business. Later he checked Moments and realized something was wrong. Every night, the other person would ask him if he wanted to buy oil. I was very excited. I posted some strange pictures on my friends circle that had increased more than ten times. One time it was a frog, another time it was a mouse. Only later did I realize that the other person was engaged in virtual currency and had a side job. U business, the oil here is the internal code for USDT.

After a good meal from the other party, I felt that investing in virtual currency was a good business, so I started my virtual currency investment career under the guidance of this enthusiastic netizen. Friends in the currency circle all know that depositing and withdrawing money is a troublesome thing, and buying gas every time is a big problem. Fortunately, this friend is very enthusiastic and can help me solve the oil problem every time. The relationship got better and better, and the investment kept getting bigger and bigger, until he found the other party to buy hundreds of thousands of USDT at one time. But when he was about to transfer the USDT in his account to his other wallet address, he realized something was wrong. Only then did he realize: there seemed to be something wrong with the U he bought.

You guessed the plot correctly, he bought fake USDT.

02 The leader in the currency circle was counterfeited

USDT as and The dollar-pegged virtual currency is called a stable currency, and its price is basically consistent with the U.S. dollar. The issuer of USDT is Tether, which claims that each USDT is 100% backed by reserves, that is to say , for every USDT issued, one dollar of cash or equivalent is deposited in the Tether Company's account.

USDT has brought great convenience to friends in the currency circle, becoming a bridge connecting the world of virtual currency and legal currency, allowing everyone to have a stable value storage tool in the blockchain world, greatly reducing the cost of The risk of virtual currency price fluctuations. According to public data, as of December 2023, the market value of USDT is as high as US$91 billion, which is quite scary.

However, with the popularity of USDT, problems similar to those at the beginning of the article have also followed Emerging - the proliferation of fake USDT. Fake USDT usually refers to counterfeit products that have no connection with the Tether company. So, how is fake USDT generated and circulated? How to identify and prevent it? Let’s talk about it in this article.

03 Fake USDT common situations

Making fake USDT The process is not complicated, and the fraud routines are all familiar. According to the USDT fraud situations we have come into contact with, there are mainly the following types:

1. Forging the official website or application of the Tether company.

Some criminals will use the name of the Tether company to create similar or identical websites or applications, and then promote and publicize them through various channels to trick investors into buying on their platform. Or exchange for USDT. These websites or apps often offer some offers or incentives to attract investor interest. However, these websites or applications actually have nothing to do with the Tether company, and the USDT issued are naturally fake.

For example, in May 2021, the Ningxiang Municipal Public Security Bureau received a call from the public at the Lijingpu Police Station. According to the victim, Mr. Li, he met a person with the ID of "Large Number of U" through chat software. , the other party claimed that he had a large amount of USDT coins to sell at a low price, and supported on-site transactions and on-site currency verification. Two days later, Mr. Li made an appointment with Xiang and Lin to meet and trade in a large shopping mall in Ningxiang. Xiang and Lin opened a digital wallet APP on their mobile phones. The interface showed that there were a large number of "U coins" in the wallet, saying that they would This digital wallet APP operates within the APP to transfer "U coins". After Mr. Li transferred 200,000 yuan as promised, the other party left for various reasons. According to the criminal suspects,the "U coins" in their hands were virtualized through a digital wallet APP, which not only controlled the amount in the background, but also created a fake transfer interface.

2. Forge the contract address or token identification of USDT.

Some criminals will take advantage of the characteristics of virtual currency technology to create some contract addresses or token identifiers that are similar or identical to USDT, and then distribute and trade them through various channels. These contract addresses or token identifiers are difficult for non-professionals to identify. The story mentioned at the beginning of the article uses this deception.

3. Use intermediary platforms or individuals to transfer or trade.

Some criminals will use some intermediary platforms or individuals, such as exchanges, wallets, agents, etc., to conduct transfers or transactions. These intermediary platforms or individuals often claim that they have large amounts of USDT inventory that can be sold or exchanged at low prices. However, these intermediary platforms or individuals do not actually have the USDT mentioned. When you pay a large amount of funds to the other party, the other party will immediately lose contact.

For example, a case in Jilin Province (2021 Ji 01 Criminal Ending No. 143). The defendants Zhang and Zheng met on a blind date website and engaged in USDT trading together. At the end of July 2020, the victims Dong and Yan met Zheng online, who was selling USDT. Zheng said it was 50 cents cheaper than the market price, and the two decided to trade with Zheng to buy USDT. On August 2, 2020, Zhang showed the amount of USDT stored in his mobile wallet at the hotel, and followed Zhang's instructions to successfully complete several small-amount transactions with the other party. Later, Dong and Yan asked their friend Huang to transfer RMB 1.29 million to an account named Tang Chang provided by Zheng in two installments for the purchase of 200,000 USDT. The defendant Zhang ostensibly used his mobile phone to transfer USDT, but failed for a long time. Zhang lied that it might be a blockchain confirmation problem to appease the other party and waited. After receiving Zheng's instructions to escape, he took the opportunity to go to the bathroom and then fled the scene. and left Changchun.

04 How to prevent fraud?

Once you know the common routines, the corresponding ones are the counter-routines. As a newbie in the currency circle, if you want to buy USDT virtual currency for some reasons, you should still pay attention to the following anti-fraud matters.

1. The official website of USDT Tether Coin Company is https://tether.to/, and the official application is Tether Wallet. If someone deceives you and says that Tether Coin Company has opened an online mall with favorable prices, Please be bold and confident to block him as soon as possible. Anyone who claims to cooperate with Tether Coin Company but whose link or application is inconsistent with the above official channels is most likely to be a liar.

2. Ordinary novices should try to choose mainstream virtual currency exchanges with legal licenses and good reputation overseas to conduct USDT transactions in the exchanges. Don’t listen to scammers and add WeChat or Telegram contact information. Just cancel the order and trade privately, otherwise if something goes wrong, no one can be found. Don’t think that having the other party’s WeChat ID can correspond to the real person. You must know that they usually receive WeChat ID from them.

3. Check the USDT contract address. If you want to purchase a large amount of USDT, you can check the USDT contract address on the blockchain browser to confirm its authenticity. You can also judge whether you have passed through a suspicious address or transaction to avoid being marked with a sticky note. The black U.

3. Pay attention to price abnormalities. If the price of USDT on a certain platform or channel is too different from the market price, especially if it is far lower than the market price, it is either black or fake, so be careful.

4. Try to use the payment address you downloaded yourself or the address on the exchange, and avoid downloading the copycat wallet application recommended by the other party.

5. Learn more about the technical and legal knowledge about blockchain virtual currencies, such as following Lawyer Honglin’s WeChat public account.

05 Conclusion      

Many friends in the currency circle jokingly say that the current virtual currency industry is like a dark forest. The projects that issue coins want to harvest you, and unreliable exchanges also want to harvest you, with all kinds of handsome guys and beautiful women. All your online friends are also thinking about your poor wallet. It is really difficult for players this time. Presumably, the offensive and defensive battle for digital asset security will continue in the industry for many years. I hope this article can help you win.