US authorities to return $8.2M seized from crypto ‘wrong number’ scammers to victims
The post US authorities to return $8.2M seized from crypto ‘wrong number’ scammers to victims appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
US authorities are working to return $8.2 million in crypto frozen and seized from three scam addresses to victims of a con involving fraudulent messages and a fake investment scheme. The scam involved sending messages to random phone numbers pretending to have the wrong number. From there, the scammers would befriend the recipient, gain their trust and eventually convince them to invest in a crypto scam. The FBI has identified 33 people snared by the scam; another five are still to be identified, with total losses at $6 million, according to a Feb. 28 statement from the Ohio District Attorney’s office. The FBI has identified 33 people snared by the scam, with another five still to be identified. Source: US Department of Justice Investigators conducted a blockchain analysis after a victim filed a complaint to the FBI’s internet Crime Complaint Center in June and found a portion of the stolen funds were converted into Tether (USDT) and transferred to the three cryptocurrency addresses. After authorities executed a federal seizure warrant, Tether froze the funds and transferred them to a law-enforcement-controlled wallet, where they have sat ever since. In a Feb. 27 forfeiture complaint filed in an Ohio District Court, acting US Attorney for Ohio Carol Skutnik and assistant US Attorney James Morford are asking the court to have all the funds in the three addresses forfeited so they can return them to the victims. The pair said the accounts “contained additional funds above the victims’ traceable losses,” which were used in money laundering and wire fraud, totaling $8.2 million. How the scam worked Skutnik and Morford said in the complaint that the scammers contacted victims through seemingly harmless, misdirected, or “wrong number” messages sent through text messages, dating applications and professional meet-up groups. “The fraudster then gained the victim’s trust…
Filed under: News - @ March 3, 2025 2:16 am