DOJ seizes more than $225 million in cryptocurrencies used in scams

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced Wednesday that it successfully executed the largest seizure of funds in cryptocurrencies linked to so-called "pig butchering" scams, this being a tactic in which the criminal tricks victims by gaining their trust to invest large sums of money in supposed cryptocurrency opportunities and then disappears. Federal prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to seize $225.3 million in virtual currencies, which, according to prosecutors, were part of a blockchain-based money laundering network, the purpose of which was to conceal the origin of funds obtained through the scams. 

According to the forfeiture lawsuit, both the Secret Service and the FBI made use of different investigative techniques to determine that the funds were linked to various types of illegal activities. "This seizure of $225.3 million in funds linked to cryptocurrency investment scams marks the largest cryptocurrency seizure in U.S. Secret Service history. These scams prey on trust, often resulting in extreme financial hardship for the victims. The U.S. Secret Service, the FBI, and our private partners worked diligently to trace these illicit transactions, identify victims, and seize these funds so that they can eventually be returned to their rightful owners," said Special Agent in Charge of the Secret Service's San Francisco office, Shawn Bradstreet, in a statement.

Hundreds of victims

According to the DOJ, there are now more than 400 pig butchering victims worldwide, including dozens of U.S. residents who have reported to authorities that they have been victims of pig butchering scams. "Today’s civil forfeiture complaint is the latest action taken by the Department to protect the American public from fraudsters specializing in cryptocurrency-based scams, and it will not be the last," DOJ criminal division chief Matthew Galeotti said in a statement.