Key Takeaways
- The US Attorney's Office in Massachusetts is working to reclaim $2.3 million in cryptocurrency from a "pig butchering" online scam.
- Authorities have initiated a civil forfeiture action.
- The investigation revealed the scam impacted 37 victims.
The US Attorney's Office in Massachusetts seeks to recover $2.3 million in crypto linked to an online scam, which was traced back to two Binance accounts.
Authorities have filed a civil forfeiture action, a legal process where law enforcement agencies seize assets believed to be connected to criminal activity without necessarily charging the owners of those assets with a crime.
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The assets were lost to a "pig butchering" scheme, in which fraudsters develop fake online bonds with their targets over several weeks or months, ultimately defrauding them of substantial crypto investments.
Authorities launched their investigation into this scheme in early 2023, uncovering connections to funds from 37 victims. This includes a case in which a Massachusetts resident was conned into sending $400,000 to scammers, with those funds then traced to other victims' losses.
The cryptocurrencies involved in the scam include approximately $1.5 million USDT, $3,000 SOL, $300,000 USDC, $14,000 ADA, and $102,000 TRX.
This case highlights the importance of vigilance in the digital asset space and the concerted efforts of law enforcement and regulatory agencies to protect investors from sophisticated online scams.
In other news, FixedFloat has confirmed a hack that resulted in the theft of at least $26 million in Bitcoin and Ether.
