By Asep Darmawan 
According to alerts raised by analysts at BitMEX Research, the campaign specifically focuses on wallets created around 2011, taking advantage of the fact that many early adopters may have lost track of their credentials, passed away, or simply abandoned their holdings during Bitcoin’s formative years. The scammers execute the scheme by injecting false transactions and carefully crafted, misleading messages directly into the blockchain using OP_Return outputs—an optional field within Bitcoin transactions designed to store arbitrary data on-chain.
In one prominent and well-documented case highlighted by investigators, the malicious actors targeted the notorious "1Feex" wallet address. This specific address holds approximately 80,000 Bitcoin, a massive fortune that is widely believed to have been stolen during the historic hack of the Mt. Gox exchange over a decade ago.
Rather than attempting a direct cryptographic exploit of the secure private keys—which remains mathematically infeasible—the attackers chose a social engineering route. They crafted an on-chain message linked to the target address, directing anyone monitoring the wallet to a fraudulent, high-end website designed to impersonate the long-defunct Wall Street financial institution Salomon Brothers.
Upon visiting the fake portal, targeted individuals or interested observers are greeted with a fabricated legal notice. The site asserts that the dormant wallet is legally classified as "lost or abandoned." To manufacture a false sense of urgency and legitimacy, the notice invites supposed rightful owners or claimants to step forward and prove their ownership.
The fraudulent platform instructs victims to either sign an on-chain cryptographic message using the private key associated with the ancient wallet or submit extensive personal documentation and identifying materials through a web-based contact form. To compel immediate action, the notice features a strict deadline, warning that if no valid claim is registered by October 5, the wallet will be permanently deemed legally abandoned under bogus legal frameworks.
Upon closer inspection, blockchain analysts and security researchers quickly dismantled the claims made on the fraudulent portal, confirming that the website maintains zero credible connection to the real Salomon Brothers or its historical leadership structure. While the scammers attempted to build an aura of authenticity by publishing a list of real individuals who genuinely worked at the prestigious financial firm during the 1980s, investigators found that none of these former executives have any association whatsoever with the spurious entity behind the new campaign.
Furthermore, cryptocurrency community members and security experts pointed out fundamental flaws in the operational logic of the scam. Observers noted that any legitimate owner of an ancient wallet wishing to prove activity or ownership on the blockchain would simply need to move a negligible, microscopic amount of Bitcoin from the address to a fresh location. The convoluted requirement to sign messages through unverified third-party websites or submit sensitive private documentation immediately signals a malicious intent.
Analysts have drawn parallels between this current campaign and earlier, highly publicized disputes surrounding the same specific Bitcoin address. The methodology reflects tactics previously associated with controversial figures such as Calvin Ayre, who has historically funded legal maneuvers and public attention campaigns involving the 1Feex Bitcoin address. However, security professionals stress that this latest incarnation has evolved into a more dangerous phishing and social engineering trap.
The overarching consensus within the blockchain security community is that the campaign functions as an advanced social engineering effort. By wrapping the deception in official-sounding legal jargon and corporate facades, the perpetrators hope to harvest sensitive personal details, private keys, or seed phrases from legacy holders who might be confused by the sudden flurry of on-chain activity surrounding long-forgotten funds.
BitMEX Research and other cybersecurity entities have issued strict advisories urging digital asset holders, developers, and community members to completely ignore these on-chain messages and avoid interacting with the fraudulent contact forms or websites in any capacity. Providing personal details or attempting to verify ownership through these unauthorized channels could result in catastrophic financial losses.
The emergence of this sophisticated wallet-targeting scam underscores the steadily growing complexity and persistence of cryptocurrency-related fraud. Malicious actors are continuously shifting their strategies from simple malware and exchange exploits toward intricate psychological manipulations, leveraging the immutable nature of the blockchain itself as a vector for delivering deceptive communications.
This rising wave of targeted cyber threats aligns with broader economic trends observed across the digital asset sector. In the first half of the year alone, hackers and cybercriminal syndicates successfully stole over $2.1 billion across approximately 75 separate security incidents. This staggering figure represents a notable 10% increase in stolen funds compared to the same tracking period in the previous year, driven largely by increasingly aggressive state-backed hacking groups and coordinated social engineering syndicates.
As the blockchain ecosystem matures and legacy assets appreciate to unprecedented financial values, early participants and institutional observers are being reminded to exercise extreme vigilance. The incident serves as a stark reminder that even addresses that have remained untouched for well over a decade continue to be closely monitored by bad actors seeking new avenues to exploit human error rather than cryptographic security.
Asro 
Layla Zulfa 
Muslim