DOJ Secures $25M Crypto Forfeiture in Bold Scam Crackdown

Scam Center Strike Force Targets Romance and Investment Fraud

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Secret Service's Washington Field Office filed five civil forfeiture complaints on Tuesday, July 21, 2026, seeking more than $25 million in cryptocurrency tied to international romance and investment scams targeting victims across the United States and Canada. The action, announced in Washington, forms part of the Scam Center Strike Force, an initiative U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro launched in November 2025 to disrupt cryptocurrency-enabled fraud networks and return stolen funds to victims.

Crypto Forfeiture Cases Trace Funds to Southeast Asia

Investigators identified more than 670 suspected victim transactions across the five cases, with laundering networks traced primarily to Southeast Asia and IP addresses linked to China, Malaysia, and Cambodia. The two largest complaints account for most of the recovered funds: a romance scam case affecting over 200 victims seeks roughly $12.09 million, while a separate investment fraud case flagged by Canadian authorities seeks about $10.4 million. Secret Service officials said the schemes largely followed “pig butchering” tactics, gradually building victim trust before steering them toward fraudulent trading platforms.

Task Force Crypto Recoveries Surpass $800 Million Milestone

The latest forfeiture brings the Scam Center Strike Force's total recoveries to more than $800 million since its founding, underscoring the scale of crypto-enabled fraud targeting American and Canadian consumers.

Continued large-scale forfeitures signal intensifying federal scrutiny of crypto laundering channels, likely pushing exchanges to strengthen transaction monitoring and compliance controls.

With recoveries surpassing $800 million, authorities are expected to expand cross-border cooperation with Southeast Asian jurisdictions to dismantle scam operations at their source.

Pirro said the seizure demonstrates the results of pursuing international laundering networks rather than focusing solely on individual fraud incidents, calling it proof that sustained pressure on these operations works.