{
 "tag": "escrow",
 "name": "Escrow",
 "group": "Other",
 "incidents": [
  {
   "slug": "meteora-fake-otc-escrow-1-5m-jan-2026",
   "title": "Meteora loses $1.5M USDC to fake OTC escrow in double-impersonation scam",
   "url": "https://drains.watch/i/meteora-fake-otc-escrow-1-5m-jan-2026",
   "json": "https://drains.watch/i/meteora-fake-otc-escrow-1-5m-jan-2026.json",
   "status": "closed",
   "severity": "critical",
   "threatStatus": "contained",
   "verification": "verified",
   "chains": [
    "solana"
   ],
   "method": "social-engineering",
   "product": "Meteora treasury (OTC buyback of MET)",
   "tags": [
    "solana",
    "social-engineering",
    "otc",
    "escrow",
    "impersonation",
    "treasury",
    "meteora",
    "usdc"
   ],
   "amountUsd": 1500000,
   "victims": 1,
   "startedAt": "2026-01-17",
   "closedAt": "2026-01-17",
   "updatedAt": "2026-04-30T12:00:00Z",
   "summary": "On Jan 17, 2026, the Solana DEX Meteora sent $1.5 million in USDC to what it believed was a trusted escrow wallet for an OTC buyback of its MET token. Scammers had impersonated the seller to Meteora and Meteora to the seller, so the 'escrow' address was theirs. The funds were reportedly moved through KuCoin. No smart contract was exploited and no user funds were involved. Meteora disclosed the loss in its Q1 2026 token holder report. Teams doing OTC deals should confirm counterparties and escrow addresses over a separate, known channel."
  }
 ],
 "changes": [
  {
   "incident": "meteora-fake-otc-escrow-1-5m-jan-2026",
   "incidentTitle": "Meteora loses $1.5M USDC to fake OTC escrow in double-impersonation scam",
   "severity": "critical",
   "status": "closed",
   "threatStatus": "contained",
   "date": "2026-04-30",
   "title": "OurCryptoTalk reported the loss, disclosed in Meteora's Q1 2026 Token Holder Report, with the USDC moved through KuCoin and recovery considered unlikely.",
   "sourceUrl": "https://ourcryptotalk.com/news/meteora-otc-scam-1-5m-usdc-loss",
   "url": "https://drains.watch/i/meteora-fake-otc-escrow-1-5m-jan-2026"
  },
  {
   "incident": "meteora-fake-otc-escrow-1-5m-jan-2026",
   "incidentTitle": "Meteora loses $1.5M USDC to fake OTC escrow in double-impersonation scam",
   "severity": "critical",
   "status": "closed",
   "threatStatus": "contained",
   "date": "2026-01-17",
   "title": "Meteora sent $1.5M USDC to a scammer-controlled 'escrow' address during an attempted OTC buyback of MET; SlowMist logs it as social engineering.",
   "sourceUrl": "https://hacked.slowmist.io/?c=Solana",
   "url": "https://drains.watch/i/meteora-fake-otc-escrow-1-5m-jan-2026"
  }
 ]
}