Records submitted to the US District Court of Columbia indicate that the government has initiated a forfeiture case concerning $200,000 worth of Tether (USDT) held within the Binance exchange. These digital assets have been associated with a notorious pig-butchering crypto scheme amounting to $1.1 million.
The court outlines the alleged offenses as involving “wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering, and money laundering conspiracy.”
As per the disclosed documents, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confiscated USDT funds from overseas criminals implicated in “pig-butchering” scams. Such schemes typically involve online investment fraud, where individuals fabricate profiles to entice victims into deceptive investment ventures.
Reportedly, an unidentified victim of two separate pig-butchering scams lodged a complaint with law enforcement. Their statement indicates losses totaling approximately $1.1 million between January 2021 and December 2022.
The United States aims to legally seize the Tether cryptocurrency in order to:
1. Penalize and discourage criminal behavior by depriving wrongdoers of gains acquired through illicit means,
2. Foster and strengthen collaboration among federal and international law enforcement entities,
3. Reclaim assets that could potentially be utilized to compensate victims.
Two Romance Scams
A victim engaged with the initial scammer under the guise of “Eva Markus” through Facebook’s dating application in December 2020. Investigations uncovered that the account, featuring a female profile picture posing as Markus, was fraudulent.
The scammer maintained a LinkedIn profile under the same name, purporting to be an engineering consultant from Boston, presently situated in Turkey.
In January 2021, Markus informed the victim of an alleged explosion at the diamond mine where she purportedly worked, persuading the victim to send funds for hiring an attorney to facilitate her return to the United States. Subsequently, the victim reportedly transferred over $400,000.
In a subsequent romance scam, the victim was ensnared by another individual posing as “Lisa Warren.” This perpetrator coerced the victim into investing in cryptocurrency and transferring funds to a wallet under Warren’s control.
In a bid to recover the losses suffered from the Markus scam, the victim transferred $55,000 in Bitcoin to Warren. Subsequently, Warren convinced the victim to sell their residence and invest further in cryptocurrency.
Despite multiple attempts to follow up, the victim only received $15,000 back out of an approximate total of $600,000, leading to the realization that they had fallen victim to a scam.
Subsequently, the FBI tracked the victim’s funds to a Binance account, prompting Binance to freeze the funds and notify the authorities.
On Monday, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a cautionary statement regarding the surge in crypto-related “pig-butchering” scams or romance scams.
