Another success story showcases that there is at least a tiny hope for crypto scam victims that their lost funds can be recovered.
In either case, while the recovered sum is minuscule in the context of billions of USD worth of crypto-related thefts, the $7 million recovered by US law enforcement is substantial for scam victims.
The US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia said that law enforcement both recovered and cleared the title to $7 million in investment fraud proceeds using civil asset forfeiture. Next, they’ll invite the victims of the fraud to submit petitions and have their funds returned.
The funds were seized by the Secret Service from a bank account belonging to a foreign bank as early as June 2023. However, it took almost two years to undergo all the legal procedures and give potential claimants an opportunity to contest the forfeiture action in court so that the US could reach a settlement with the bank that owned the account.
Meanwhile, the fraud itself, as is often the case in crypto scams, involved social engineering in an attempt to lure victims into investing in unspecified crypto assets via spoofed investment websites.
"These websites were set up to mimic legitimate cryptocurrency investment platforms but funneled victim funds to the perpetrators through over 75 bank accounts in the names of shell companies," the attorneys said.
The criminals used the traditional tactic of getting to know the victims and earning their trust before suggesting they make a crypto investment. Meanwhile, once the investment was made, the fake websites displayed false numbers, giving the victims a false sense that their investment was successful and generating sizeable gains.
The next step in this scheme involved making it impossible for victims to withdraw the funds while also forcing them to deposit an even larger sum, claiming they needed to pay taxes on the profits.
According to the attorneys, once the money was stolen, it was often laundered to a location outside the US.
"After the perpetrators received the victim funds in the shell company bank accounts, they would transfer them through a series of other bank accounts before ultimately sending them abroad," the attorneys explained.
Moreover, according to court documents, the wiring instructions affecting these transfers deceptively characterized them as domestic wires.
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