Scammers in Venezuela are executing a fraud scheme involving counterfeit USDT tokens designed to appear legitimate in self-custody wallets. The fake tokens, which carry zero value, mimic the smart contracts of genuine USDT stablecoins to deceive merchants into accepting them as payment for goods.
According to reports from Venezuelan tech observer Juan Kassabji, the scam operates at the point of sale when fraudsters request that merchants process payments through external, self-custodial wallets. The cloned tokens display the USDT name but do not share the same smart contract address as the official Tether-issued token. Once accepted, scammers complete the transaction and leave with merchandise while the merchant receives worthless tokens.
Kassabji documented at least one incident where a merchant accepted fake USDT tokens in a transaction exceeding $5,500. While counterfeit tokens have previously been reported in peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchanges, their use in physical retail purchases represents a new application of the scam.
Protecting Against Fake Tokens
Some cryptocurrency wallets include security features to flag fraudulent tokens, though such protections are not universally implemented across all wallet providers.
Kassabji recommended several protective measures for merchants and users receiving stablecoins:
- Process stablecoins through Binance, which hosts a significant portion of Venezuela's peer-to-peer exchange activity and only credits legitimate USDT to customer balances
- Verify that received tokens match Tether's official smart contract address
- Check the total balance in dollars after each transaction—fake tokens will register a zero balance
The scheme exploits Venezuela's high level of stablecoin adoption, making merchants in the country particularly vulnerable to this form of fraud.
