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The U.S. Department of Justice has commenced a legal process to confiscate $2.3 million in cryptocurrency, funds that can be traced back to a complex “pig butchering” scam.
As stated in the official press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, the agency has filed a civil forfeiture action to retrieve the funds associated with an alleged “pig butchering” scheme that “targeted a Massachusetts resident as part of a romance scam.”
$2.3 Million “Pig Butchering” Romance Scheme
The inquiry into this scheme started in the spring of 2023, revealing that the Massachusetts resident, among others, became a victim of this deception. The individual was tricked into transferring over $400,000 into a cryptocurrency wallet.
This event was part of a broader trend of fraudulent activities that have affected 37 individuals across the United States, resulting in the confiscation of cryptocurrency from two Binance accounts in January 2024.
“Pig butchering” scams, as characterized, involve fraudsters establishing trust online before persuading victims to invest in bogus schemes, resulting in considerable financial and emotional harm.
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“Specifically, the government aims to forfeit 299,457.4 USD Coin (USDC), 1,455,305.997648 Tether (USDT), 102,278.515015 Tron (TRX), 3,032.1689461 Solana (SOL), 67.79400436 Binance Coin (BNB), 13,703.955431 Cardano (ADA), and 0.54151495 Ether (ETH) seized from two accounts,” the press release states.
“In total, this cryptocurrency has a current estimated value of around $2,300,000,” the DOJ concluded.
The document suggested that the confiscated cryptocurrency was derived from wire fraud activities and was used in money laundering, rendering it subject to forfeiture.
Civil forfeiture procedures allow third parties with potential claims to the contested property to come forward. These claims must be resolved before the assets can be officially forfeited to the U.S. government and subsequently redistributed to the victims of the scam.
Crypto Investment Scam Losses Increase by 53%
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) recently disclosed that investment losses related to cryptocurrencies increased from $2.57 billion in 2022 to approximately $3.94 billion in 2023, reflecting a notable rise of 53%.
These losses accounted for the majority of investment fraud in the nation, representing about 86% of the total investment fraud losses, which reached $4.57 billion over the year.
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