US to return $7M to victims of ‘spoofed’ crypto investment websites

The US Secret Service seized some of the stolen funds from a foreign bank in 2023 and began the civil forfeiture action, eventually allowing them to return $7 million of the stolen funds.

US authorities are seeking to return $7 million to victims of a social engineering scam that tricked them into sending money to fake cryptocurrency investment platforms. 

The scam involved the fraudsters contacting victims and earning trust before directing them to websites masquerading as legitimate crypto investment platforms, Virginia’s Eastern District US Attorney’s Office said in a March 21 statement.

Once victims made a deposit, the funds were funneled through over 75 bank accounts under the names of shell companies, then sent abroad “deceptively characterized” as domestic wires, despite being transferred to a bank outside the US.

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