US law enforcement has seized over $225 million in cryptocurrency allegedly stolen from dozens of American victims as part of a sophisticated investment scam, the Justice Department has said
It’s the largest-ever seizure of funds stolen in so-called “crypto confidence” scams, which dupe people into investing in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes, the department said.
The scam affected more than 400 people worldwide, including dozens of Americans, and caused millions of dollars in losses, according to a complaint unsealed Wednesday.
The scammers conducted “hundreds of thousands” of transactions in an effort to launder the stolen cryptocurrency, according to the Justice Department.
The US government now has possession of the stolen crypto and will be working to return as much of it as possible to victims, Shawn Bradstreet, a special agent in charge at the Secret Service, said at a news conference on Wednesday.
Losses from crypto investment scams have surged in recent years. Victims reported nearly $4 billion in crypto-related investment losses in 2023 compared to $2.57 billion in 2022, according to the FBI. That number increased to $5.8 billion in 2024.
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