Authorities have confiscated over $6 million in crypto from wallets associated with Southeast Asia-based Crypto scammers.
The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia reported on Sept. 26 that the deception resulted in “one or more individuals” losing millions of dollars after believing they were investing in legitimate crypto enterprises.
The FBI traced the stolen funds on the blockchain and identified numerous crypto scammers and wallets associated with the fraud, which still hold over $6 million of the digital assets of the victims in question.
Tether claims that it facilitated the “swift recovery” of the stolen cryptocurrency by freezing the wallets of the crypto scammers.
Matthew Graves, the attorney for the District of Columbia, stated that the fraudsters and their accounts are typically located abroad, which makes recovery more challenging.
US Citizens are Targets for these crypto scammers
“In these schemes, the crypto scammers deceive US citizens into believing that they are transferring funds to cryptocurrency investment opportunities when, in reality, they are unknowingly transferring their money to the fraudsters,” he stated.
According to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, victims of these scams are approached through various methods, including misdirected text messages, dating applications, and investment organizations.
Crypro Scammers recommend a cryptocurrency investment after establishing trust with users; however, they direct them to investment platforms hosted on fraudulent websites that resemble legitimate ones.
Some fraudulent platforms may appear to provide lucrative returns and permit temporary withdrawals; however, all deposits are directed to a wallet address under fraudsters’ control.
Chad Yarbrough, the assistant director of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division, stated that crypto investment schemes like the one they recently discovered are “devastating” and affect thousands of Americans daily.
“The FBI has observed victims lose millions of dollars and take out second and third mortgages on their homes to pursue the next great investment opportunity,” he stated.
According to the FBI’s annual cryptocurrency fraud report, almost 71% of the cryptocurrency fraud reported to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) in 2023 was associated with investment schemes.
Investment fraud was the most frequently reported crypto scam and experienced the most reported losses, with fraudsters stealing over $3.9 billion.
The FBI reported receiving complaints from more than 200 countries; however, most complaints and losses were recorded in the United States.
