On-chain investigator ZachXBT on August 10 accused Tiffany Milanovich, a person within the US, of involvement in not less than $5 million in stolen crypto belongings by {hardware} pockets and centralized trade 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 belongings being drained from their accounts.
ZachXBT’s Allegations
In response to 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 primarily based risk actor tied to not less than $5M in thefts from {hardware} pockets and centralized trade help impersonation scams.
She’s recorded herself taunting victims on calls after draining their funds.
Tiffany overtly flaunts luxurious purchases,… pic.twitter.com/mRMD4yhWiz
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) August 10, 2026
In response to the allegations, Milanovich performed a task in “help impersonation” incidents, a type of social engineering during which scammers impersonate help employees from exchanges, crypto wallets, or custody companies. Slightly than exploiting technical vulnerabilities immediately, this playbook targets consumer panic and belief, typically by pretend emails, pressing cellphone calls, or spoofed login/approval interfaces.
ZachXBT mentioned Milanovich left behind a “paper path” together with chat logs, recordings, and on-chain information. The thread was additionally accompanied by movies, screenshots, and pockets addresses as an example the movement of funds in addition to how the concerned events communicated after the alleged thefts.
Alleged Sufferer Instances
The instances highlighted by ZachXBT span from late 2025 to mid-2026, with the biggest quantity in a single case reaching $1.2 million.
October 2025: A sufferer misplaced roughly $500,000 in Bitcoin after belongings have been drained from their Coinbase account. ZachXBT mentioned Milanovich recorded the decision associated to this case and posted screenshots of the withdrawal transactions.
February 2026: Milanovich was accused of shifting round $100,000 in an Exodus pockets after participating in a “band 4 band” on Discord with one other risk actor—which means flexing balances or holdings to match who had more cash. ZachXBT mentioned an related deal with at present holds round $631,000 DAI and was funded by way of a number of immediate exchanges.
June 2026: A sufferer misplaced $1.2 million in Bitcoin and Ether after receiving a phishing electronic mail impersonating BitcoinIRA beneath the title “Patricia Massie.” Following this incident, in response to 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 fairly than an remoted incident.
A Acquainted Rip-off Playbook
ZachXBT’s allegations replicate a well-recognized 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 usually maneuvered right into a state of urgency by way of emails, cellphone calls, or pretend login interfaces, then persuaded to substantiate transactions, share safety codes, or switch belongings to addresses managed by scammers.
The damaging side of this playbook is that it’s typically disguised as an account safety process. Requests corresponding to “transaction verification,” “locking suspicious entry,” or “shifting funds to a protected pockets” could make victims consider 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 not less than $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 typical payout per rip-off deal with 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. Whole 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 instances 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 “shield the account.” For exchanges and pockets suppliers, the stress 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 present 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 mentioned Milanovich had shared, however this doc has not been independently verified by public information.
There may be at present no confirmed public response from Milanovich or her authorized representatives. Due to this fact, particulars relating to her position, the quantities concerned, and connections to different risk actors stay allegations from an impartial on-chain investigation, not authorized conclusions. ZachXBT mentioned Milanovich left behind a paper path by way of chat logs, recordings, and on-chain information, whereas expressing hope that she’s going to quickly face authorized penalties.





