Largest crypto seizure in US Secret Service history, $225M to be returned to victims

Another successful law enforcement operation demonstrates that crypto scammers can't always get away with stolen funds and that at least some of them can be returned to victims.

The US government confirmed it seized $225.3 million in unspecified crypto assets, as the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil forfeiture complaint with a court that would allow the DOJ to return the funds to victims.

According to the announcement, over 400 suspected victims are believed to have lost funds after being tricked into making "legitimate cryptocurrency investments."

Special Agent in Charge Shawn Bradstreet of the US Secret Service (USSS) San Francisco Field Office claims that this seizure of funds linked to crypto investment scams is the largest crypto seizure in USSS history.

Law enforcement said they used blockchain analysis and other unspecified investigative techniques to determine that the crypto assets are connected to the theft and laundering of funds from victims of crypto investment fraud schemes. The investigation also showed that the addresses storing the stolen crypto assets were part of a sophisticated blockchain-based money laundering network.

It executed "hundreds of thousands" of transactions and was used to disperse proceeds of crypto investment fraud across many crypto addresses and accounts to cover their tracks, according to the complaint.

"The forfeiture of these illicit funds is a powerful tool in the FBI’s toolbox to stop the fraudsters who are operating online from stealing from the American people," Assistant Director Jose A. Perez of the FBI Criminal Division was quoted as saying in the announcement.

People who believe they might be victims of these scam schemes are encouraged to contact the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.

Meanwhile, in related news, New York law enforcement said their multi-agency, long-term investigation disrupted a fraudulent crypto investment scam that targeted members of the Russian community in Brooklyn and across the country.

Over $140,000 worth of crypto has already been seized, $300,000 frozen, while a cluster of scam websites and registrar accounts were dismantled. The scheme also involved Facebook, where fraudulent cryptocurrency investment opportunities were promoted. Facebook's parent company, Meta, shut down more than 700 accounts associated with the "blackhat" advertiser promoting the scam.

However, neither the DOJ nor New York law enforcement agencies specified whether the criminals themselves were identified.