The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has seized millions of dollars worth of crypto assets from entities in Southeast Asia that allegedly targeted US citizens.
In a new announcement on social media platform X, the FBI say that they have seized $6 million worth of digital assets from Southeast Asian scammers preying on people in the US using crypto trust programs.
Says Chad Yarbrough of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division:
“These types of plans are devastating and impact thousands of Americans every day. The FBI has seen victims lose millions of dollars, take out second and third mortgages on their homes, all in the hopes of finding the next big investment opportunity.
The seizure of millions of dollars is proof that the FBI will do everything in its power to hunt down these fraudsters who insist on taking advantage of the American public.”
Crypto trust schemes involve bad actors who contact victims through dating apps, text messages, or professional meeting groups. These scammers gain the trust of their victims before tricking them into depositing their money on fraudulent crypto websites with promises of false returns.
In a press release, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) say The scammers would trick their victims into depositing money and create an atmosphere of legitimacy by allowing them to withdraw a small amount of winnings to encourage more investments before locking them out of their investments.
Instead of investing the money as promised, the assets would be moved to a wallet linked to the scammers.
The FBI says it was able to locate “multiple cryptocurrency wallet addresses” containing $6 million in victim funds.
As stated by U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves:
“In these scams, fraudsters trick U.S. citizens into believing they are transferring money to cryptocurrency investment opportunities, when in fact they are simply unknowingly transferring their money to the fraudsters.
The fact that these fraudsters and their accounts are typically located outside the United States will not stop us and our partners at the FBI from doing everything we can to recover the proceeds of these frauds and the people who run them to be held accountable.”
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