Greek maritime risk firm MARISKS issued a formal fraud alert on April 21, warning that unknown actors are circulating messages to shipping companies with vessels stuck west of the Strait of Hormuz. The messages falsely claim to be from Iranian authorities and demand cryptocurrency payments in Bitcoin (BTC) or Tether (USDT) in exchange for promised unimpeded transit through the strait at a pre-agreed time. MARISKS was unambiguous in its assessment: "These specific messages are a scam." Reuters was unable to independently confirm the reports or identify specific companies that received the fraudulent messages.

Roughly 300 to 400 ships and approximately 20,000 seafarers are currently stranded in the Gulf, unable to safely transit the strait following months of erratic closures tied to a regional conflict that erupted in late February, triggered by a US-Israeli air campaign and the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader.

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A Scam Built on a Real System

What makes this fraud particularly dangerous is that it closely mirrors a legitimate toll regime that Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has been operating since mid-March 2026. Under that system, vessel operators can pay up to $2 million per transit, roughly $1 per barrel of crude oil on a fully loaded supertanker, with accepted payment methods including Chinese yuan through Kunlun Bank and China's cross-border interbank payment system (CIPS), as well as digital assets including Bitcoin. Iran's parliament formalized the arrangement through the Strait of Hormuz Management Plan, passed on March 30 to 31, which explicitly named digital currencies as valid payment. A conversion facility on Qeshm Island, run by an unnamed IRGC-linked intermediary, handles rapid crypto-to-fiat settlement.

One of the fraudulent messages, as documented by MARISKS, read: "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 vessel be able to transit the strait unimpeded at the pre-agreed time."

The language appears to track how legitimate toll communications have been described publicly, making verification difficult for crews and operators already operating under extreme stress.

The dangerous consequences of acting on bad information became concrete on April 18. When Iran briefly declared the strait open, at least two vessels, including a tanker, reported coming under fire from Iranian boats. MARISKS believes at least one of those vessels had previously received the fraudulent transit offer before making its move.

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On-Chain Reality Does Not Match the Hype

Despite the IRGC toll system being widely reported since early April, blockchain analytics firm TRM Labs said the data does not support claims of widespread adoption. "We are not seeing on-chain evidence today that indicates that toll payments are being made at scale," the firm stated. TRM Labs' finding suggests the scam is operating in an information environment where even the legitimate system remains difficult to verify independently.

Iran's broader crypto ecosystem recorded $7.8 billion in transaction volume in 2025, with the IRGC accounting for roughly half of that figure, according to Fortune. The projected revenue from the Hormuz toll system, if fully operational, has been estimated at up to $20 million per day or $600 to $800 million per month, according to TRM Labs. The US Department of Justice has been investigating Iran's use of Binance to circumvent sanctions.

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South Asia and Africa Absorb the Downstream Shock

The ships targeted by this scam are largely carrying cargo bound for South Asia and East Africa, the regions most exposed to the underlying Hormuz disruption.

India sources close to half of its crude oil imports and roughly 60 percent of its natural gas through the strait. Pakistan imports 99 percent of its LNG from Qatar and the UAE, both routes dependent on Hormuz access. Bangladesh faces a structural gas deficit of more than 1,300 million cubic feet per day and sources 72 percent of its LNG from the same Gulf suppliers. Both India and Pakistan have deployed naval destroyers to escort tankers in the Gulf of Oman, though not inside the strait itself. Iran has placed India and Pakistan on a list of nations whose ships may transit without restriction, a designation that adds further complexity to the regional picture.

The disruption also carries food security implications beyond energy. More than 30 percent of globally traded urea transits Hormuz, placing South Asian agricultural supply chains under additional pressure during planting season.

Africa carries the highest import dependence on Hormuz for jet fuel at 40.9 percent of total imports, and 23.4 percent for diesel. Energy-importing economies in East and sub-Saharan Africa face a compounding shock: elevated commodity prices layered on top of rising freight and war-risk insurance costs. War-risk premiums have moved from 0.125 percent to between 0.2 and 0.4 percent of vessel value since the crisis began.

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The USDT Angle and What Comes Next

If any payments have been made to the fraudsters, the choice of token matters for potential recovery. Tether froze $182 million in USDT across five Tron wallets in January 2026 following a DOJ action, part of a total $4.2 billion in crime-linked USDT frozen since 2023. That precedent means USDT payments are potentially recoverable through coordination with Tether. Bitcoin payments, by contrast, would be harder to freeze, though they remain traceable through chain analysis.

The broader lesson for operators building payment infrastructure in trade finance and maritime logistics is clear. The existence of a state-run crypto payment system, even one whose on-chain footprint remains thin, provides enough plausible cover for fraudulent copycats to operate convincingly. MARISKS issued a formal warning classifying the messages as a scam.