U.S. DOJ targets $25M in crypto linked to investment and romance scams

The U.S. Department of Justice has moved to forfeit more than $25 million in cryptocurrency recovered from five investigations into international fraud networks that allegedly tricked victims in the United States and Canada through fake crypto investment schemes.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, investigators from the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, working through the Cyber Fraud Task Force, traced multiple money laundering networks connected to thousands of suspected victims worldwide who were persuaded to send funds to what they believed were legitimate cryptocurrency investment platforms.

The forfeiture action covers five separate investigations, each involving a different fraud operation but sharing common laundering patterns that authorities say routed stolen cryptocurrency through overseas networks. Prosecutors said the recovered assets will now be subject to civil forfeiture proceedings, a legal process that could ultimately allow eligible victims to seek compensation.

The largest investigation began after Canadian authorities alerted U.S. investigators in late 2024 to suspicious activity linked to cross-border fraud. According to the Justice Department, investigators identified more than 270 suspected victim transactions connected to the scheme and are seeking to forfeit approximately $10.4 million in cryptocurrency.

A second investigation centered on online romance scams accounted for the largest share of the latest recovery. Prosecutors said the operation affected more than 200 victims who were allegedly persuaded to transfer money into fraudulent cryptocurrency investments, with authorities now seeking approximately $12.1 million tied to the scheme.

Separate complaints cover three additional investigations reported by victims in the U.S. National Capital Region. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, one case reported in May 2026 seeks roughly $1.2 million, while another reported in March 2026 seeks approximately $2.4 million. A fifth investigation involving a fee-based recovery scam, in which victims were allegedly asked to pay additional charges to recover previously stolen cryptocurrency, seeks nearly $285,000.

Investigators said the laundering operations behind all five cases were largely based in Southeast Asia. The Justice Department stated that IP addresses linked to the schemes were primarily located in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia, illustrating how international fraud groups continue to move stolen digital assets across multiple jurisdictions before victims or authorities can trace them.

Fraud investigations expand asset recovery efforts

Federal prosecutors said the latest action adds to more than $800 million recovered through the Scam Center Strike Force, an initiative launched in November 2025 by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro to disrupt international cryptocurrency fraud networks.

In a statement released by the Justice Department, Pirro said the latest seizure demonstrated the results of pursuing international laundering operations instead of focusing only on the fraud itself. She added that investigators dismantled complex laundering networks, protected victims, and interrupted criminal financial channels used to move illicit proceeds.

The latest forfeiture continues a series of Justice Department actions targeting cryptocurrency linked to online scams and other cyber-enabled crimes.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to recover 327,829.72 USDT allegedly connected to an online romance scam. According to court filings from March 2026, a Massachusetts resident was persuaded through a dating application to transfer money into fake cryptocurrency investments before the stolen funds were routed through multiple blockchain wallets and converted into Tether’s USDT stablecoin.

Federal investigators later seized several wallets connected to that case after blockchain analysis traced the movement of the funds. Prosecutors said civil forfeiture proceedings allow recovered digital assets to be returned to eligible victims once ownership claims are resolved by the court.

Recovery actions have also extended beyond investment fraud. In July 2025, the Justice Department filed a separate civil forfeiture complaint seeking nearly $2.3 million worth of Bitcoin allegedly linked to the Chaos ransomware group. According to federal prosecutors, the cryptocurrency had been traced to a wallet associated with a suspected member of the ransomware-as-a-service operation and was seized after FBI investigators gained access to the wallet before transferring the funds into government-controlled custody.

Authorities have increasingly relied on blockchain analysis as part of those investigations. Court filings in multiple cases have described how investigators tracked cryptocurrency through successive wallet transfers before identifying addresses connected to alleged laundering operations or fraud networks.

Other U.S. agencies have also expanded enforcement involving digital assets. In March 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned two networks allegedly linked to Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel, accusing them of using cryptocurrency transactions to move proceeds from fentanyl trafficking. Treasury identified multiple Ethereum wallet addresses connected to the sanctions and alleged that cartel associates converted cash into cryptocurrency before transferring illicit funds across blockchain networks.