On-chain investigator ZachXBT on August 10 accused Tiffany Milanovich, a person within the US, of involvement in at the least $5 million in stolen crypto property by way of {hardware} pockets and centralized change buyer help impersonation scams. In a thread on X, ZachXBT described Milanovich as a “caller,” who made calls impersonating help personnel to persuade victims to grant entry or carry out actions that led to property being drained from their accounts.
ZachXBT’s Allegations
Based on ZachXBT, Milanovich not solely participated in rip-off calls but additionally recorded, posted, or shared interactions with victims after funds have been drained. The investigator accused her of publicly boasting about luxurious spending, stolen cash, and playing actions on social media.
1/ Meet Tiffany Milanovich, a US based mostly menace actor tied to at the least $5M in thefts from {hardware} pockets and centralized change help impersonation scams.
She’s recorded herself taunting victims on calls after draining their funds.
Tiffany brazenly flaunts luxurious purchases,… pic.twitter.com/mRMD4yhWiz
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) August 10, 2026
Based on the allegations, Milanovich performed a job in “help impersonation” incidents, a type of social engineering wherein scammers impersonate help workers from exchanges, crypto wallets, or custody companies. Relatively than exploiting technical vulnerabilities straight, this playbook targets person panic and belief, typically by way of pretend emails, pressing telephone calls, or spoofed login/approval interfaces.
ZachXBT stated Milanovich left behind a “paper path” together with chat logs, recordings, and on-chain knowledge. The thread was additionally accompanied by movies, screenshots, and pockets addresses for example the stream of funds in addition to how the concerned events communicated after the alleged thefts.
Alleged Sufferer Instances
The circumstances highlighted by ZachXBT span from late 2025 to mid-2026, with the most important quantity in a single case reaching $1.2 million.
October 2025: A sufferer misplaced roughly $500,000 in Bitcoin after property have been drained from their Coinbase account. ZachXBT stated Milanovich recorded the decision associated to this case and posted screenshots of the withdrawal transactions.
February 2026: Milanovich was accused of transferring round $100,000 in an Exodus pockets after participating in a “band 4 band” on Discord with one other menace actor—which means flexing balances or holdings to check who had extra money. ZachXBT stated an related handle at the moment holds round $631,000 DAI and was funded by way of a number of prompt exchanges.
June 2026: A sufferer misplaced $1.2 million in Bitcoin and Ether after receiving a phishing electronic mail impersonating BitcoinIRA beneath the identify “Patricia Massie.” Following this incident, in keeping with ZachXBT, Milanovich started flexing cash in Telegram teams, whereas a lot of the stolen funds remained unmoved.
Along with Milanovich, ZachXBT talked about a number of different actors allegedly linked to the phishing infrastructure and Telegram teams the place stolen funds have been later flexed. These particulars haven’t been independently verified, however they assist place the allegations within the context of a broader social engineering community reasonably than an remoted incident.
A Acquainted Rip-off Playbook
ZachXBT’s allegations replicate a well-known mannequin in crypto: scammers don’t must hack a pockets if they’ll trick customers into handing over management themselves. In buyer help impersonation scams, victims are sometimes maneuvered right into a state of urgency by way of emails, telephone calls, or pretend login interfaces, then persuaded to verify transactions, share safety codes, or switch property to addresses managed by scammers.
The harmful facet of this playbook is that it’s typically disguised as an account safety process. Requests similar to “transaction verification,” “locking suspicious entry,” or “transferring funds to a protected pockets” could make victims imagine they’re mitigating danger, when in actuality they’re finishing the ultimate step for his or her funds to be drained.
Crypto Impersonation Scams Are Surging
The case highlighted by ZachXBT comes amid a pointy surge in crypto impersonation scams. Chainalysis estimates that crypto-related scams and fraud obtained at the least $14 billion on-chain in 2025, and this determine might exceed $17 billion as newly recognized illicit addresses are added. Impersonation scams alone elevated by over 1,400% year-over-year, whereas the common payout per rip-off handle rose from $782 in 2024 to $2,764 in 2025.
Annual cryptocurrency rip-off losses. Supply: Chainalysis
Within the US, the FBI IC3 recorded 181,565 crypto-related complaints in 2025, with whole losses exceeding $11 billion. Complete losses from cyber-enabled fraud surpassed $17.7 billion, with funding fraud accounting for practically 49% of whole scam-related losses. These figures present that buyer help impersonation circumstances are now not remoted dangers, however a part of an more and more professionally organized fraud market.
For crypto customers, the clearest warning indicators stay unsolicited calls or emails requesting seed phrases, 2FA codes, session tokens, distant entry, or asset transfers to “defend the account.” For exchanges and pockets suppliers, the strain lies in clarifying official help channels, growing withdrawal warnings, and early detection of transactions displaying indicators of social engineering.
What Stays Unverified
The allegations within the thread at the moment stay solely from ZachXBT, whereas there aren’t any public statements from the DOJ, FBI, or courtroom filings confirming the complete incident. ZachXBT additionally posted a photograph of a search-and-seizure warrant in Connecticut that he stated Milanovich had shared, however this doc has not been independently verified by way of public information.
There may be at the moment no confirmed public response from Milanovich or her authorized representatives. Subsequently, particulars concerning her position, the quantities concerned, and connections to different menace actors stay allegations from an impartial on-chain investigation, not authorized conclusions. ZachXBT stated Milanovich left behind a paper path by way of chat logs, recordings, and on-chain knowledge, whereas expressing hope that she is going to quickly face authorized penalties.
