Federal forfeiture cases aim to recover cryptocurrency linked to romance and investment fraud schemes in the US and Canada.
Federal prosecutors filed five civil forfeiture complaints seeking over $25 million in cryptocurrency tied to international romance and investment scams. The cases stem from Secret Service investigations tracing funds through hundreds of wallet addresses and frozen crypto assets linked to 270 suspected fraud transactions and over 200 victims.
The largest cases involve $12.1 million from online romance schemes and $10.4 million from fraudulent investment platforms. Three additional complaints seek $1.23 million, $2.39 million, and $285,000. Authorities report the total recovered by a federal scam task force exceeds $800 million.
One case involved scammers cutting contact after a victim attempted to withdraw funds from a fake crypto investment account. Investigators identified multiple victims in the Washington area as part of the schemes.