U.S. prosecutors are moving to seize more than $25 million in crypto tied to a cross-border scam machine that used investment fraud, romance scams, and recovery scams to drain victims worldwide.
- Five civil forfeiture complaints target more than $25 million in crypto
- Thousands of victims worldwide were reportedly affected
- Southeast Asia appears to be a key laundering hub
- Scam Center Strike Force says it has helped recover more than $800 million
The U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that federal authorities are seeking forfeiture of crypto assets tied to five separate fraud matters linked to international investment scam networks, including DOJ Moves to Seize $25 Million in Crypto Tied to Global. The announcement came from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, with the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office and its Cyber Fraud Task Force credited with identifying multiple laundering groups.
This is not just about finding scammers after the fact. It is about hitting the financial plumbing that makes the fraud worthwhile in the first place: the wallets, transfers, intermediary addresses, and cash-out routes that turn stolen crypto into spendable money. Criminals can lie all day. The real business model is in the movement of funds.
According to the DOJ, the cases are tied to schemes that targeted victims in the United States and Canada and affected thousands of victims worldwide. Investigators say the laundering activity was concentrated in Southeast Asia, with relevant IP addresses observed in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia. That does not automatically prove every actor was physically there, but it does show where investigators saw the operational infrastructure clustering.
The five complaints break down like this:
- The largest matter was first detected by Canadian authorities in late 2024. U.S. investigators traced more than 270 suspicious transactions and are seeking forfeiture of about $10.4 million in crypto.
- The second matter involves a romance scam, a familiar online fraud where criminals build trust and then steer victims into sending money or crypto. That case reportedly affected more than 200 victims, with about $12.1 million identified for forfeiture.
- The third matter was opened after a victim report in the National Capital Region in May 2026, with prosecutors pursuing roughly $2.4 million.
- The fourth matter came from a separate report in the National Capital Region in March 2026, with about $1.2 million now subject to forfeiture.
- The fifth matter involves a follow-on scam in which criminals allegedly demanded fees to help victims recover money that had already been stolen. That secondary fraud accounts for around $285, 000 in crypto.
Together, the listed amounts add up to roughly $26.4 million, which is why the DOJ rounds the total to “more than $25 million.”
The recovery scam is especially ugly. It is fraud on top of fraud: after someone has already been cleaned out, another crew shows up pretending to help for a fee. That is not “recovery.” That is just adding insult to injury with a fake smile and a fresh invoice.
The DOJ said the forfeiture effort is part of the Scam Center Strike Force, launched in November 2025 by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro. Pirro said the $25 million effort is “a direct result of the strike force’s work, ” and the release framed the operation as a push to disrupt the “money movement” networks that keep these scams profitable. The broader enforcement push also echoes Investigations into Cryptocurrency Scams Result in Seizure and the DOJ’s separate United States Files Civil Forfeiture Complaint Against $225 action, which shows how seriously authorities are leaning into crypto seizure as a weapon.
That focus matters. Crypto crime is often discussed as if the only thing that matters is catching the person who sent the first message. In reality, the resilience comes from the laundering stack behind the scam: rapid transfers, layered wallets, commingled proceeds, and cross-border cash-out channels that make the money harder to freeze and harder to return.
Blockchain transparency helps investigators follow the trail, but tracing is not the same as recovery. A public ledger can show where funds went. It does not automatically tell you who controls the wallet, which exchange they used, or how quickly they moved the proceeds into fiat. That is where the ugly part of enforcement begins.
The Strike Force says it has helped recover more than $800 million in criminal proceeds to date. That is a serious number, but the release does not break down how much of it came from crypto versus other forms of crime. Still, it suggests U.S. authorities are treating scam infrastructure as a financial system problem, not just a cybercrime nuisance. In another major case, the DOJ described the Largest Ever Seizure of Funds Related to Crypto, underscoring how huge these fraud networks can get when left to metastasize.
For readers who are new to the terminology, a few terms matter here:
Forfeiture proceedings are the legal process the government uses to try to permanently seize assets it says are tied to criminal activity. These are civil actions, so they are not the same thing as a criminal conviction.
Money-laundering groups are the networks that move and disguise illicit funds to make them harder to trace and harder to seize.
Layered wallets are multiple sequential wallets used to obscure the trail of funds.
Cross-border cash-out channels are the exchanges, brokers, or payment services used to convert crypto into fiat across jurisdictions.
The bigger picture is straightforward: scammers do not need crypto to commit fraud, but they absolutely love how fast it moves and how easily it can be pushed across borders. That is why law enforcement is increasingly going after the infrastructure around the scam, not just the scammer at the front of the funnel. The bad guys can always buy a new burner phone. What they want to keep is the money. Recent cases like Hong Kong Woman Loses $1M in AI Crypto Scam: Fraud Surge, Christmas Eve Crypto Scam: Fake CircleMetals Platform, and Indian Engineer Loses $133K in Crypto Scam: Police Warn of are a reminder that these are not abstract balance-sheet crimes, real people get wrecked.
Key questions and takeaways
What did U.S. prosecutors announce?
They filed five civil forfeiture complaints seeking to seize more than $25 million in cryptocurrency tied to international fraud networks.
Why does the DOJ care about the wallets and transfers?
Because the money movement layer is what makes the scams profitable. If investigators can freeze or seize the proceeds, the business model gets a lot less attractive.
How many victims were affected?
The DOJ said the schemes affected thousands of victims worldwide. One of the cases involved more than 200 victims.
Where were the laundering networks concentrated?
The DOJ said the laundering activity was predominantly located in Southeast Asia, with IP addresses observed in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia.
What is a romance scam?
It is a fraud where criminals build trust through an online relationship and then steer victims into sending money or crypto.
What is a recovery scam?
It is a follow-on fraud that targets people who have already been victimized, usually by pretending to recover lost funds for a fee.
Does civil forfeiture mean someone has been convicted?
No. Civil forfeiture is a legal process aimed at the property itself. It does not require the same kind of criminal conviction against a person, although it often follows a detailed investigation.
Is the Scam Center Strike Force making a difference?
Based on the DOJ’s figures, the strike force appears to be a meaningful enforcement tool. The department says it has helped recover more than $800 million in criminal proceeds, though the release does not say how much of that came from crypto cases.
Can victims expect to get their money back?
Not automatically. Forfeiture can help, but recovery is often slow, contested, and incomplete. Tracing funds is one thing; getting them back into victims’ hands is another fight entirely.
