Ship owners are receiving fraudulent messages asking for crypto payments in exchange for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, and at least one may have been taken in, Reuters reported on Tuesday.
Marisks, a Greek maritime risk services company, issued a warning that several shipping lines had received messages from scammers posing as Iranian authorities asking for bitcoin or USDT. The firm said it believed at least one ship fell victim to the scam and was fired upon while trying to pass through the strait over the weekend, Reuters said.
Shipping traffic through the strait has largely been blocked by Iran since February 28, when the US and Israel launched a war against the country in the Middle East. According to Reuters, there are around 20,000 oil tankers and other cargo ships stranded in the Gulf.
A week ago, US President Donald Trump ordered a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and has since seized an Iranian vessel that tried to evade the operation.
On April 9, Tehran, which controls the chokepoint, proposed crypto taxes on ships in exchange for safe transit. Hamid Hosseini, spokesman for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, said the crypto fees would likely be charged in bitcoin.
Marisks issued its alert on Monday. Iran has not commented, Reuters added.
“These specific messages are a scam,” Marisks said, assuring that the messages did not come from official Iranian sources.
“After providing the documents and assessing your eligibility by the Iranian security services, we will be able to determine the fee to be paid in cryptocurrency (BTC or USDT). Only then will your ship be able to pass the strait unimpeded at the pre-arranged time,” said the fraudulent message, quoted by Marisks.
The shipping company did not immediately respond to a CoinDesk request for comment.
