STORY UPDATED: check for updates below.

Scam Mails

Are emails sent via the public.govdelivery.com email domain and claiming to be about an "unclaimed balance" at Bittrex legitimate? No, that's not true: They appear to be part of an email scam aimed at former users of the now defunct company Bittrex Global. The company itself warned users on its website only to trust emails coming from a limited set of domain names.

Users on social media, for example here (archived here) are reporting they received email from "[email protected]" that read like this:

Your Bittrex Account contains substantial holdings - Final Reminder!
March 26th, 2025
We're notifying you that, under recent authorization, account holders are now eligible to manage and transfer any unreviewed holdings.
As of March 26th, 2025, your account reflects an updated unclaimed balance of $15,814.26. This may include assets deposited in the past, along with additional items requiring confirmation, As part of our ongoing account closure procedures, we are enabling the release of these holdings following the latest protocols.
To proceed, please log in to your account and connect a compatible tool or service (web, hardware, or app) for exit processing, Completion times may range from 5 minutes to 1 hour, depending on verification checks of your linked account.
Access Your Account
Thank you for your attention to this matter. If any questions arise, our support team is available to assist.
Best regards.
Bittrex Inc.

This is a screenshot of one of the purported messages:

However, Bittrex itself announced via their website (archived here) their operations are suspended:

It is with great regret that we announce that Bittrex Global has decided to wind down its operations. This decision was not made lightly, and we understand the inconvenience it may have on our valued customers.

UPDATED 23 APRIL

Bittrex Global operated cryptocurrency exchanges in Liechtenstein and Bermuda. Both companies are now in liquidation. Further details are set out below.

All funds and tokens remain safe and secure on the Bittrex Global platform, and will be available for withdrawal using the withdrawal facilities on the platform in due course.

They also warned against trusting emails from domains not belonging to them:

We only use email addresses ending in @bittrex.li, @bittrex.bm, @bittrexglobal.com, or @bittrex.com; emails from any other email address are not from Bittrex Global.

The company also posted a warning message to X (archived here) in 2023 with essentially the same message:

⚠️To all of our customers⚠️

We're seeing a significant increase in scam emails being reported to us. We'd like to remind you that Bittrex Global will never do the following:
-We will never DM you first on Telegram
-We will never contact you from a personal email address
-We will...

-- Bittrex Global (@BittrexGlobal) November 6, 2023

The "govdelivery.com" domain name redirects visitors to a company named Granicus (archived here) which appears to be a digital provider used by local government entities. Lead Stories reached out to Granicus for comment on these emails and we will update this story when a reply is received.

Kitsap County told Lead Stories in an email they had updated their website (archived here) with an apology and an explanation of what happened:

We are writing to inform you that an unauthorized third party accessed GovDelivery, which is the Kitsap County Electronic Notification System, this week. They were able to access a list of email addresses of users who asked to subscribe to County newsletters and bulletins.

After that system access, some subscribers received emails through the GovDelivery system erroneously advising that they have unclaimed money in a cryptocurrency account. This email was unauthorized and would never be sent by Kitsap County. For this, we apologize.