How to spot scams like "Pantera Capital - Estate Recovery"

What is "Pantera Capital - Estate Recovery"?

We have checked the email and found that it is a phishing attempt. It is disguised as an estate recovery notice to trick recipients into replying. It seems that scammers behind it aim to steal personal information and possibly money from unsuspecting recipients. This fraudulent message should be ignored to avoid those risks.

More about the "Pantera Capital - Estate Recovery" scam email

The email is disguised as a message from a representative of a cryptocurrency investment company and claims to involve a dormant Bitcoin wallet allegedly worth hundreds of millions of dollars. It states that the funds belong to the estate of a deceased individual and suggests that, due to legal rules, the assets will be seized unless claimed soon.

The message is designed to appear urgent and states that the offer is limited to non-US residents, must remain confidential, and has a specific deadline. It promises the recipient a large share, 30% of 5,000 BTC, in exchange for cooperation, which involves providing personal information, supposedly required for the KYC verification.

This is a scam intended to trick unsuspecting recipients into replying and then sharing personal information, which may include banking details and ID card information. Additionally, fraudsters may attempt to deceive recipients into paying "administration" or "transaction" fees to steal money. Either way, none of the claims in this email are true, and this message should be ignored.

Similar scam emails in general

Emails like this are generally known as phishing emails. They try to trick recipients into revealing personal information (e.g., banking details or passwords) or to make payments. These messages often appear important and urgent, and promise of large sums of money to manipulate victims. Recipients should ignore them and never respond.

Sometimes, falling for such scams can result in computer infections. Some examples of scams similar to the one we reviewed are "Unclaimed Prize Money Email Scam", "Compensation To Cyber Crime Victims Email Scam", and "Crypto Cash Back Reward Email Scam".

How do spam campaigns infect computers?

Cybercriminals distribute malware through email by sending malicious attachments, such as Word or Excel files, PDFs, ZIP or RAR archives, scripts, or executables. The infection typically occurs when the recipient opens the attachment or enables features like macros that allow the malware to infiltrate the system.

Also, emails can contain links instead of attachments, directing users to fraudulent or compromised websites. Visiting these pages may initiate automatic downloads, or they can be designed to trick users into manually downloading and running malware. In general, a device is only compromised when the user interacts with the malicious file or link.

How to avoid installation of malware?

Utilize trusted security tools to conduct regular system scans and maintain up-to-date operating systems and applications. Avoid interacting with unexpected emails or messages, especially those from unknown senders, and do not open any attachments or links they contain.

When downloading software, use official pages or reputable app stores, and never use pirated programs, cracks, or keygens. When browsing unfamiliar sites, avoid clicking ads, pop-ups, or questionable links, and always decline notification requests from suspicious pages.

Appearance of the "Pantera Capital - Estate Recovery" scam email (GIF):

Text presented in the "Pantera Capital - Estate Recovery" email letter:

Subject: Estate Recovery Notice ********

Pantera Capital

Greetings,

I am Kerry Wong, Head of Public Relations at Pantera Capital, a US based digital asset management firm. I am contacting you directly in strict confidence regarding a verified dormant Bitcoin wallet identified through proprietary blockchain analysis. This is a personal off-book facilitation strictly prohibited for US residents or citizens due to regulatory restrictions.
Wallet Details:
Address: 16Jka2DrvEGGJ6ks2kXRpxmQZLQmAFRoGk

Balance: Exactly 5,000 BTC ($540,000,000 USD per CoinMarketCap, Dec 13, 2025)

Origin: Estate of the late Mr. Andrew Klayman

Under US escheatment laws, unclaimed assets revert to Treasury custody after 7 years of inactivity. No beneficiary has come forward, creating a 45-day private claim window exclusively for non-US persons. I have successfully executed 47 identical recoveries this year—100% success rate, fully untraceable.
Your Eligibility:

As a non-US resident aged 21+, you qualify immediately.
Process:
Submit KYC: Driver's license OR passport + proof of age to my email
I provide all official legal/governmental documents covering every requirement
Direct wallet-to-wallet transfer via trusted offshore custodians
Distribution upon successful completion:
You receive:
30% (1,500 BTC / $162M+ USD)
I and associates receive:
70% (3,500 BTC)
After
0.05% procurement fee
(covers expedited documentation + your Pantera Capital account pre-funded with 2 BTC)

Timeline: 14 days from KYC submission. Deadline: January 27, 2026 (Treasury forfeiture).

Reply only to:
kerrycwong@yahoo.com

with subject "BTC CLAIM - NON-US"
Absolute confidentiality required. Disclosure voids eligibility.
Regards,
Ms. Kerry Wong
Head of Investor Relations
kerrycwong@yahoo.com
Off-Book | Non-US Only | For Your Eyes Only

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Quick menu:

• What is Pantera Capital - Estate Recovery phishing email?
• Types of malicious emails.
• How to spot a malicious email?
• What to do if you fell for an email scam?

Types of malicious emails:

Phishing Emails

Most commonly, cybercriminals use deceptive emails to trick Internet users into giving away their sensitive private information, for example, login information for various online services, email accounts, or online banking information.

Such attacks are called phishing. In a phishing attack, cybercriminals usually send an email message with some popular service logo (for example, Microsoft, DHL, Amazon, Netflix), create urgency (wrong shipping address, expired password, etc.), and place a link which they hope their potential victims will click on.

After clicking the link presented in such email message, victims are redirected to a fake website that looks identical or extremely similar to the original one. Victims are then asked to enter their password, credit card details, or some other information that gets stolen by cybercriminals.

Emails with Malicious Attachments

Another popular attack vector is email spam with malicious attachments that infect users' computers with malware. Malicious attachments usually carry trojans that are capable of stealing passwords, banking information, and other sensitive information.

In such attacks, cybercriminals' main goal is to trick their potential victims into opening an infected email attachment. To achieve this goal, email messages usually talk about recently received invoices, faxes, or voice messages.

If a potential victim falls for the lure and opens the attachment, their computers get infected, and cybercriminals can collect a lot of sensitive information.

While it's a more complicated method to steal personal information (spam filters and antivirus programs usually detect such attempts), if successful, cybercriminals can get a much wider array of data and can collect information for a long period of time.

Sextortion Emails

This is a type of phishing. In this case, users receive an email claiming that a cybercriminal could access the webcam of the potential victim and has a video recording of one's masturbation.

To get rid of the video, victims are asked to pay a ransom (usually using Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency). Nevertheless, all of these claims are false - users who receive such emails should ignore and delete them.

How to spot a malicious email?

While cyber criminals try to make their lure emails look trustworthy, here are some things that you should look for when trying to spot a phishing email:

• Check the sender's ("from") email address: Hover your mouse over the "from" address and check if it's legitimate. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft, be sure to check if the email address is @microsoft.com and not something suspicious like @m1crosoft.com, @microsfot.com, @account-security-noreply.com, etc.
• Check for generic greetings: If the greeting in the email is "Dear user", "Dear @youremail.com", "Dear valued customer", this should raise suspiciousness. Most commonly, companies call you by your name. Lack of this information could signal a phishing attempt.
• Check the links in the email: Hover your mouse over the link presented in the email, if the link that appears seems suspicious, don't click it. For example, if you received an email from Microsoft and the link in the email shows that it will go to firebasestorage.googleapis.com/v0... you shouldn't trust it. It's best not to click any links in the emails but to visit the company website that sent you the email in the first place.
• Don't blindly trust email attachments: Most commonly, legitimate companies will ask you to log in to their website and to view any documents there; if you received an email with an attachment, it's a good idea to scan it with an antivirus application. Infected email attachments are a common attack vector used by cybercriminals.

To minimise the risk of opening phishing and malicious emails we recommend using Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows. 

Example of a spam email:

What to do if you fell for an email scam?

• If you clicked on a link in a phishing email and entered your password - be sure to change your password as soon as possible. Usually, cybercriminals collect stolen credentials and then sell them to other groups that use them for malicious purposes. If you change your password in a timely manner, there's a chance that criminals won't have enough time to do any damage.
• If you entered your credit card information - contact your bank as soon as possible and explain the situation. There's a good chance that you will need to cancel your compromised credit card and get a new one.
• If you see any signs of identity theft - you should immediately contact the Federal Trade Commission. This institution will collect information about your situation and create a personal recovery plan.
• If you opened a malicious attachment - your computer is probably infected, you should scan it with a reputable antivirus application. For this purpose, we recommend using  Combo Cleaner Antivirus for Windows.
• Help other Internet users - report phishing emails to Anti-Phishing Working Group, FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, National Fraud Information Center and U.S. Department of Justice.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Why did I receive this email?

Scammers obtain addresses from compromised data or deceptive sites, and messages they send are typically identical for all recipients.

I have provided my personal information when tricked by this email, what should I do?

Change passwords for any accounts that may be affected if your login details have been leaked. For other sensitive information like bank or ID details, notify the relevant companies or authorities.

I have downloaded and opened a malicious file attached to an email, is my computer infected?

Risks differ depending on the file. For example, executables can immediately run malicious code, whereas documents are safe unless the user takes steps like enabling macros.

I have lost my cryptocurrency in a scam, can I get my money back?

Once a cryptocurrency transaction is completed, it usually cannot be reversed, making the funds permanently lost.

I have read the email but did not open the attachment, is my computer infected?

Simply opening or reading an email cannot harm a devices. Malware can infiltrate only if the user interacts with malicious links or attachments.

Will Combo Cleaner remove malware infections that were present in email attachment?

Combo Cleaner removes almost all known malware, but running a full scan ensures that deeply hidden and advanced threats are also found.