Tether has voluntarily blocked over 1,900 bitcoin wallets associated with illegal activities.
According to a recent announcement, since its launch in 2014, the stablecoin issuer Tether has helped more than 145 law enforcement agencies recover more than $108.8 million USDT linked to illicit acts.
Tether remains resolute in its mission to support global law enforcement efforts in combating illicit uses of cryptocurrency, stated Paolo Ardoini, CEO of Tether, in a statement that was released on August 23.
“We unequivocally condemn the misuse of USDT or any cryptocurrency for criminal activities.”
According to Ardoini, Tether is “fully dedicated” to continuing to work with law authorities to combat fraud. Since the company’s founding, Tether has “voluntarily blocked” more than 1,900 bitcoin wallets linked to illegal activity worldwide.
In the most recent instance, they provided assistance to the United States Department of Justice (DoJ) in the process of seizing nearly $5 million worth of USDT from con artists who deceived victims by pretending to be romantic interests before vanishing with their money.
People commonly refer to this criminal scheme as “pig-butchering”. Criminals who slaughter pigs generally meet their victims online and frequently devote a significant amount of time to establishing confidence with them in order to encourage them to make higher commitments.
The confiscation of cash, according to Tether’s explanation, “marks a significant victory in the ongoing battle against cyber-enabled fraud“. The investigation also involved them integrating the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the United States Service into its platform “to achieve synergy in investigations”.
Data shows that the revenue from romance scams more than doubled in 2023 compared to the previous year, an increase of 85 times since 2020. According to Chainalysis, pig-butchering scams have the “worst impact on victims of all scam types” due to the typically small payout amount”.
These fake investment platforms display a fictitious investment portfolio with abnormally large investment returns, which is designed to induce the victim to invest more,” the United States Department of Justice noted in a statement on August 22.
Following the monies’ acquisition, the Department of Justice claimed that they were then transferred through cryptocurrency wallets in order to “obfuscate the nature, source, control, and ownership of those fraud proceeds.
On March 12, Tether backed the Department of Justice in seizing approximately $1.4 million USDT, citing concerns about the funds’ fraudulent acquisition through a customer assistance scam.
