A wave of fraudulent messages is targeting shipowners, offering 'safe passage' through the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for bitcoin or USDT payments, with at least one vessel reportedly falling prey to the scam. According to a report by Reuters on Tuesday, Marisks, a Greek maritime risk services company, has issued a warning to ships stranded due to the Hormuz blockade, alerting them to scammers posing as Iranian authorities. The firm believes that at least one ship has been a victim of the scam and was fired upon while attempting to navigate the strait over the weekend. The Strait of Hormuz has been largely blocked by Iran since February 28, following the initiation of a war by the US and Israel, leaving around 20,000 oil tankers and freighters stranded in the Gulf.
In response to the blockade, US President Donald Trump ordered a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, seizing one Iranian vessel that attempted to evade the operation. Tehran, which controls the strait, proposed introducing cryptocurrency tolls for vessels seeking safe passage, with the fees likely to be paid in bitcoin, according to Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for Iran's Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters' Union. Marisks released its warning on Monday, stating that the messages from the scammers did not originate from official Iranian sources.
The fraudulent message, as cited by Marisks, claimed that upon providing documents and being assessed by the Iranian Security Services, a fee in cryptocurrency would be determined, allowing the vessel to transit the strait unimpeded at a predetermined time.