US agency steps up global hunt for crypto scammers as decade-long seizures top $400m

Things are about to get a bit tougher for crypto scammers.

The United States is ramping up its international crackdown on digital asset fraud, with the Secret Service expanding operations to help other countries unmask the schemes draining billions of dollars from victims worldwide.

At the centre of the effort is the agency’s Global Investigative Operations Center. It’s a specialised team of analysts tasked with tracing crypto scams back to their source and clawing back stolen funds.

The GIOC has already helped seize nearly $400 million in digital assets over the past decade, according to a recent Bloomberg report.

And while that figure spans various cryptocurrencies, separate data shows more than 195,000 Bitcoin, worth over $21 billion today, have been seized by US authorities and auctioned off over the years, according to a tracker made by Jameson Lopp.

But the latest focus is prevention as much as recovery.

Through workshops in over 60 countries, the Secret Service is training law enforcement and prosecutors to trace crypto transactions and expose the scams behind convincing websites and false promises.

Fraud tied to cryptocurrencies now accounts for the majority of US internet-crime losses, with victims reporting $9.3 billion stolen last year, according to FBI data.

One of the agency’s most significant recent recoveries involved $225 million in USDT frozen with help from Tether, OKX, and blockchain investigators at TRM Labs.

The case exposed how criminals moved victim funds through hundreds of wallets and laundering hubs before consolidation into seven final holdings.

Kyle Baird is DL News’ Weekend Editor. Got a tip? Email at kbaird@dlnews.com.