Fraudsters impersonated employees of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, the largest trading platform for cryptocurrencies in the world by number of users. They convinced a customer that his funds were at risk because someone had gained access to his account. They persuaded him to transfer cryptocurrencies to a 'safe address' that they controlled, and then stole his funds.

Half of the cryptocurrencies were already lost at this stage, and there were little hopes of recovering them. However, the other half returned to the Binance exchange, which, contrary to the assurances given to the customer by three of its staff members, did not freeze those funds and likely allowed the fraudsters to withdraw them. The case reported to the police was quickly dismissed.