**[Fake USDT Token Scam Emerges in Venezuela, Merchants Using Self-Custody Payments Suffer Losses]** Golden Finance reported on September 21, citing Bitcoin.com News, that a scam involving "cloned USDT" tokens with zero value has surfaced in Venezuela, targeting merchants. According to tech expert Juan Kassabji, scammers request merchants to use external self-custody wallets for payment during checkout and transfer tokens that mimic the name "USDT" but are counterfeit stablecoins with different contract addresses. These tokens hold no actual value, yet the wallet displays the payment as completed, allowing scammers to take goods without paying. Kassabji noted at least one known transaction where a merchant accepted such fake tokens, resulting in losses exceeding $5,500. Previously, these fake tokens were mostly used in P2P transactions, but their use for offline purchases represents a new tactic. Kassabji advises merchants to switch to Binance for payments (only accepting valid USDT deposits), which dominates the local P2P market, or to verify the dollar balance and contract address in self-custody wallets to ensure it matches Tether's official address.