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Crypto scammers offer ‘safe passage’ through Hormuz. At least one ship may have been conned.
Marisks, a maritime risk company, alerted ships stranded by the Hormuz blockade to scammers posing as Iranian authorities asking for bitcoin or USDT.
Apr 21, 2026, 10:31 a.m.
What to know:
- Shipowners are receiving fraudulent messages from scammers posing as Iranian authorities and demanding bitcoin or USDT payments for safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, according to Greek risk management firm Marisks.
- Marisks said it believes at least one vessel fell victim to the scam and was fired on while attempting to transit the strait, which has been largely blocked by Iran since late February amid a U.S.- and Israel-led war.
- The scam follows Tehran’s proposal to charge official crypto tolls for safe transit. Marisks stressed that the messages it flagged did not come from legitimate Iranian sources.
Shipping traffic through the strait has largely been blocked by Iran since Feb. 28, when the U.S. and Israel initiated a war on the Middle East country. According to Reuters, there are roughly 20,000 oil tankers and other freighters stranded in the Gulf.
A week ago, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and has since seized one Iranian vessel trying to evade the operation.
On April 9, Tehran, which controls the chokepoint, proposed crypto tolls on vessels in exchange for safe transit. Hamid Hosseini, spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, said the crypto fees would likely be charged in bitcoin.
