As of 15 April 2022, HALO analysts identified the Grayscale impersonator channel on Telegram, pictured right, and confirmed it is a scam. The channel was created on 11 April 2022 and has 9 subscribers. Content in English and Turkish advertises exponential returns on cryptocurrency ‘investments’ within 12 hours through ‘Gold’ and ‘VIP’ tiered plans.

The channel administrator “Norma Strait” (right) uses a profile picture from the Instagram account of American swimwear model, Isabella Buscemi. When analysts engaged the account, the user claimed affiliation with Grayscale Investments and forwarded ‘investment plans’ stating “all you need is a bitcoins wallet and a maximum investment capital to get started.”

HALO analysts surfaced two Bitcoin wallet addresses associated with this scam. Additionally, analysts identified the contact number, right, and determined it is a VOIP number serviced by Google.