The cryptocurrency world is grappling with a severe uptick in sophisticated scams, notably voice phishing (vishing) attacks, directly fueled by massive data breaches like the one Bybit suffered earlier this year. Nigerian crypto trader Ewgi, known as Ssaasquatch on X, recently shared a harrowing account of narrowly escaping a meticulously crafted scam call that could have cost him his entire crypto holdings. His experience serves as a critical warning, emphasizing the dire need for heightened vigilance and robust security measures among crypto users globally.

Ewgi's terrifying encounter began with an unsolicited phone call from an unknown number. The caller, impersonating a Bybit representative, demonstrated an alarming level of personal knowledge, greeting Ewgi by his full name and Bybit account ID. She fabricated a story about a hacker in Slovakia targeting his wallet for 1 BTC, even referencing his specific location in Lagos and a recent transaction. Despite the initial shock and the call's convincing nature, a critical detail raised Ewgi's suspicion: when asked for his current balance, the scammer fumbled, offering vague excuses. This misstep prompted Ewgi to demand her name, at which point the call abruptly ended. Recognizing the fraudulent nature of the call, Ewgi immediately secured his funds by transferring them to a Tangem hardware wallet and promptly shared his story on X, warning his followers about the compromise of Bybit user data on the dark web. His post rapidly gained traction, eliciting numerous similar reports from other traders.

This surge in vishing attacks is a direct consequence of the catastrophic $1.5 billion hack Bybit, a major Dubai-based crypto exchange, suffered on February 21, 2025. This historic heist, attributed to North Korea's notorious Lazarus Group, exploited a phishing attack to bypass multi-signature safeguards, leading to the compromise of extensive user data including names, KYC documents, and transaction logs. This sensitive information is now being traded on dark web forums, providing scammers with the precise details needed to construct highly believable and targeted phishing attempts. These sophisticated rings, some reportedly leveraging AI, build trust with victims using their personal data before coercing them into transferring funds or divulging critical credentials. Reports have emerged of AI-driven vishing operations targeting crypto executives and dark web solicitations for phone numbers of specific Bybit users for fraud schemes.

Ewgi's experience resonates particularly strongly within Nigeria's burgeoning crypto community, where platforms like Bybit are widely used for remittances and hedging against currency fluctuations. However, the threat is universal, with countless stories of near misses and actual losses circulating on social media. A THORChain co-founder, for instance, lost $1.3 million in September to a DPRK-linked scam call, underscoring the global reach and severity of these attacks. While Bybit has implemented measures such as anti-phishing codes, authenticity checkers, and P2P escrow protections, user frustration persists regarding slow appeal processes, reversed payments that penalize victims, and scammers exploiting dispute systems.

In this treacherous environment, hardware wallets like Tangem, Trezor, and Ledger have emerged as a crucial lifeline. These devices store private keys offline, offering robust protection against remote hacks and phishing attempts. Ewgi's swift action to move his funds to a portable Tangem wallet exemplifies this security best practice. He strongly advocated for hardware wallets on X, emphasizing their importance for traders. Experts, including Forbes in a post-mortem of the Bybit hack, consistently advise against blind signing transactions and urge users to treat any unsolicited calls or demands for sensitive actions as immediate red flags. With Web3 losses projected to hit $1.6 billion in 2025, according to The Hacker News, stories like Ewgi's serve as an urgent wake-up call for the entire crypto ecosystem.

The overarching lesson is clear: in the high-stakes world of cryptocurrency, skepticism is an essential advantage. Bybit itself explicitly warns that legitimate representatives will never make unprompted calls or demand sensitive actions from users. Yet, scammers continue to evolve, leveraging stolen data and psychological manipulation to exploit fear and trust. For traders like Ewgi, survival hinges on verifying all communications through official channels, diligently securing funds in cold storage, and maintaining constant vigilance. As Ewgi concluded his warning on X, "Stay safe out there," a sentiment that encapsulates the critical importance of proactive security in the wild west of digital assets.