The U.S. Secret Service recovered over $25 million in cryptocurrency through five investigations

According to Bitcoin.com, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Secret Service Washington Field Office announced that a cyber fraud task force has seized over $25 million in cryptocurrency as part of multiple investigations related to international fraud schemes targeting residents of the United States and Canada. The U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has filed five civil forfeiture complaints seeking the forfeiture of the recovered cryptocurrency.

Investigators have confirmed multiple money laundering networks and thousands of victims globally, with the largest complaint involving a romance scam affecting over 200 victims, totaling approximately $12.1 million. Another complaint involves a network of suspicious cryptocurrency wallets reported by Canadian authorities to the U.S. Secret Service, amounting to about $10.4 million.

Agents tracked over 270 suspected victim transactions related to fraudulent investment platforms, with these two cases accounting for approximately 85% of the assets involved in the five forfeiture complaints. The remaining cases involve blocked withdrawals, fake investment accounts, and recovery of fraud. Investigators stated that most suspected money launderers are located in Southeast Asia and identified internet protocol addresses associated with China, Malaysia, and Cambodia; the five investigations are still ongoing.