The U.S. Department of Justice has moved to forfeit more than $25 million in cryptocurrency recovered from five international fraud investigations involving fake crypto investment schemes and romance scams. 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. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro framed the seizure as proof that pressure on international fraud networks works, stating this represents the results of months of tireless work by Washington Field Office investigators who are among the best in the world at tracking down cyber criminals and tracing their illicit transactions.
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, affecting 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. In this case, Secret Service agents traced laundered proceeds through hundreds of intermediary wallets, demonstrating the complexity of modern cryptocurrency money laundering operations. The frauds involved fake crypto investment platforms, online romance scams, and other deceptive methods, with investigators tracing the illicit funds through multiple wallet addresses and mixing services. In one particularly sophisticated case, scammers cut off contact after a victim tried to withdraw money from what appeared to be a crypto investment account, while in another, fraudsters contacted someone who had already lost money and claimed they could recover it for a fee in what's known as a recovery scam.
Investigators said the laundering operations behind all five cases were largely based in Southeast Asia, with IP addresses linked to the schemes primarily located in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia. As reported by the Justice Department, this demonstrates how international fraud groups continue to move stolen digital assets across multiple jurisdictions before victims or authorities can trace them. The recovered assets will now be subject to civil forfeiture proceedings, a legal process that could ultimately allow eligible victims to seek compensation. Special Agent in Charge Tara McLeese of the U.S. Secret Service Washington Field Office emphasized that this seizure stems directly from the Scam Center Strike Force launched in November 2025, with the office filing the five complaints in federal court on July 21, 2026. The U.S. Secret Service continues to investigate and collaborate with international agencies to pursue those responsible.
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. According to the Justice Department, federal prosecutors said the latest seizure demonstrated the results of pursuing international laundering operations instead of focusing only on the fraud itself. The recovered digital assets will be subject to civil forfeiture proceedings, with prosecutors noting that civil forfeiture allows recovered digital assets to be returned to eligible victims once ownership claims are resolved by the court. U.S. authorities have doubled down on enforcement against crypto-linked scams, with the Justice Department previously restraining more than $700 million in crypto in April, allegedly tied to money laundering from crypto scams. Recent enforcement actions include $61 million in USDT stablecoin seized in February from addresses allegedly used to launder fraudulent investment platform proceeds.
The forfeiture continues a series of Justice Department actions targeting cryptocurrency linked to online scams and 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. 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. Other U.S. agencies have also expanded enforcement involving digital assets, with the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioning two networks allegedly linked to Mexico's Sinaloa Cartel in March 2026. The enforcement efforts align with broader international operations, including Operation First Light 2026 coordinated by Interpol, which involved 97 countries and resulted in 5,811 arrests and the interception of $283 million in illicit assets.
