US seeks forfeiture of $25M in crypto tied to romance, investment scams
The DOJ filed five civil forfeiture complaints seeking over $25 million in crypto linked to international investment, romance, and recovery scams that targeted victims in the US and Canada. Investigators said the funds were uncovered through separate Cyber Fraud Task Force probes that traced laundering networks tied to thousands of victims worldwide. The largest complaint seeks about $12.1 million from romance scams affecting more than 200 victims. Another seeks $10.4 million tied to more than 270 suspected victim transactions. Three smaller cases involve fake investment accounts and a recovery scam that targeted people after they had already been defrauded. Authorities said scammers used social engineering, fraudulent trading platforms, and layered wallet transfers to hide stolen funds, with laundering activity mainly linked to Southeast Asia and related IP addresses in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia. The action comes amid broader global enforcement efforts against crypto-enabled romance and investment scams.
