Fake tax form scam targets crypto owners
Cybercriminals are targeting cryptocurrency owners with a new scam, sending emails that contain a fake tax form. The form asks recipients to provide not only details of their crypto holdings but also personal information, including their home addresses—data that could be used to rob them later.
According to RTL, the website hosting the form looks highly realistic. It features a tax authority logo above a “crypto tax declaration form,” which asks users to disclose how much cryptocurrency they own and where it is stored. The form also requests information about online platforms such as Bitvavo and Coinbase, as well as hardware crypto wallets—USB-like devices used to store bitcoins.
The form concludes with a series of personal questions, including phone number and home address. Hacker Wesley Neelen, who discovered the scam, told RTL that the fake page is distributed via email. “You get a notification of a new message in your inbox. If you click on it, you eventually arrive at this form,” he said. Both the emails and the website closely resemble official government pages, making them difficult to distinguish from legitimate communications.
The criminals behind the scam operate with a high degree of sophistication. RTL reported that the website’s address is changed almost daily to evade blocks and detection. Neelen said the exact purpose of the form remains unclear. “It’s possible that criminals will contact you by phone afterward,” he said. “But they could also come to your door.”
The warning comes amid a rising number of cryptocurrency-related attacks, including robberies and kidnappings, occurring worldwide. Earlier this month, police in the Netherlands arrested five suspects linked to a kidnapping. The suspects reportedly forced a 24-year-old man into a car and, at gunpoint, demanded he transfer cryptocurrency. The victim was later abandoned in the Brabant town of Uppel.
