TLDR
- US authorities are returning $7 million to victims of spoofed crypto investment platforms
- Scammers gained victims’ trust before directing them to fake investment websites
- Stolen funds were funneled through 75+ shell company bank accounts and sent abroad
- Secret Service seized funds from a foreign bank in 2023 and initiated civil forfeiture
- Victims can contact the Secret Service to petition for recovery of their losses
US authorities have begun the process of returning $7 million to victims who were tricked into sending money to fake cryptocurrency investment platforms. The announcement came from the Eastern District of Virginia’s US Attorney’s Office on March 21.
The scam involved fraudsters who contacted victims and built trust with them over time. After gaining their confidence, the scammers directed victims to websites that looked like legitimate cryptocurrency investment platforms.
These websites were designed to fool victims into thinking they were investing in real crypto opportunities. The sites showed fake data indicating that the victims’ investments were growing and making good returns.
The United States has recovered and cleared title to $7 million of investment fraud proceeds using civil asset forfeiture; victims may submit petitions to have the funds remitted back to them.#USSS #EDVA #justice https://t.co/h4DlRzQgZx
— U.S. Attorney EDVA (@EDVAnews) March 21, 2025
When victims tried to withdraw their money, the scammers used pressure tactics to get them to invest even more. One common method was claiming that victims needed to pay taxes on their supposed profits before they could access their funds.
The stolen money was moved through more than 75 different bank accounts. These accounts were set up under shell companies that existed only on paper.
From Scam to Recovery
The funds were then sent to banks outside the United States. The transfers were disguised to look like normal domestic wire transfers, making them harder to track.
The United States Secret Service took action in 2023. They seized some of the stolen funds from a foreign bank and started a civil forfeiture action in a US District Court.
The foreign bank made its own claim against the seized money. US authorities eventually reached a settlement agreement for $7 million of the funds.
Victims of this scam have been told to contact the Secret Service. They can petition to recover the money they lost to the fraudsters.
This case is part of a growing trend in cryptocurrency crime. According to blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, crypto crime has entered a “professionalized era” dominated by efficient cyber criminal groups.
Similar scams have been reported in other countries. On March 21, Australian federal police alerted 130 people about a message scam targeting crypto users. The messages copied the same “sender ID” as legitimate exchanges like Binance.
Users on the social media platform X reported another string of scam messages on March 14. These messages pretended to be from Coinbase and Gemini and tried to trick users into setting up new wallets with recovery phrases controlled by the scammers.
Cybersecurity is becoming increasingly important in the crypto space. On March 18, cybersecurity firm Malwarebytes warned about a new type of crypto-stealing malware. The malware was hidden inside a “cracked” version of TradingView Premium software.
Microsoft’s Incident Response Team made another discovery on March 17. They found cyber scammers using a new remote access trojan that targets cryptocurrency held in 20 different wallet extensions for the Google Chrome browser.
Authorities continue to warn crypto users to be cautious when investing. They recommend using only official websites and apps from trusted exchanges and never sharing recovery phrases or private keys with anyone.
