The United States has moved to confiscate more than $25m (£19m) in cryptocurrency tied to sprawling online investment and romance scams that allegedly targeted victims across North America and beyond.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) says the funds, recovered in five separate investigations, were traced to international money-laundering networks that funnelled stolen digital assets through overseas platforms before they could be detected.
Officials say the move is part of a wider drive to dismantle so‐called “pig butchering” schemes – elaborate frauds in which victims are groomed online and coaxed into fake cryptocurrency investments.
Five probes, one laundering web
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said agents from the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, working through its Cyber Fraud Task Force, followed the flow of funds through multiple blockchain wallets to identify thousands of suspected victims worldwide.
Although each of the five cases involves a separate fraud ring, prosecutors say they uncovered common laundering patterns, with stolen cryptocurrency routed through networks largely based in South-East Asia.
The DoJ says civil forfeiture proceedings have now been launched against the seized assets, a process that could eventually allow eligible victims to apply for compensation once courts resolve ownership claims.
Romance scams dominate haul
The largest single recovery in the latest action is linked to online romance scams, which alone account for about $12.1m of the seized cryptocurrency.
Prosecutors say more than 200 people were allegedly lured into transferring savings into bogus crypto platforms after building relationships with fraudsters on dating and social apps.
In a separate investigation, authorities are seeking to forfeit roughly $10.4m in cryptocurrency after Canadian officials alerted U.S. investigators in late 2024 to suspicious cross‐border activity. Investigators say they identified more than 270 suspect victim transactions linked to that scheme.
Three further cases reported by victims in the U.S. National Capital Region involve smaller, but still significant, sums: about $1.2m in a case reported in May 2026, some $2.4m reported in March 2026, and nearly $285,000 tied to a fee‐based recovery scam in which victims were allegedly charged additional fees to get back cryptocurrency stolen in earlier frauds.
Networks traced to China, Malaysia and Cambodia
Investigators say technical evidence points to the co‐ordination of these schemes from abroad. According to the DoJ, IP addresses linked to the operations were primarily located in China, Malaysia and Cambodia, underlining the global nature of the networks funnelling stolen digital assets across jurisdictions.
Federal prosecutors say the latest seizures add to more than $800m recovered to date through the Scam Center Strike Force, an initiative set up in November 2025 by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro to disrupt international crypto fraud and laundering operations.
In a statement, Pirro said the results show the value of targeting the financial backbone of the scams rather than just the front‐end fraud.
She said investigators had dismantled complex laundering systems, shielded victims and cut off criminal channels used to move illicit proceeds.
Wider campaign against crypto‐enabled crime
The action in Washington forms part of a broader campaign by U.S. authorities to seize cryptocurrency tied to online scams and cybercrime.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts filed a civil forfeiture complaint to recover 327,829.72 USDT allegedly linked to an online romance scam. Court documents from March 2026 state that a Massachusetts resident was convinced via a dating app to invest in fake cryptocurrency schemes, with the stolen funds moved through multiple wallets and converted into Tether’s USDT stablecoin.
Federal agents later seized several wallets in that case after blockchain analysis tracked the movement of the assets. Prosecutors say civil forfeiture allows recovered crypto to be returned to victims once courts resolve who has valid claims.
Beyond fraud: ransomware and cartel funds
The DoJ’s focus on digital assets has extended beyond investment cons.
In July 2025, prosecutors filed a separate civil forfeiture case seeking nearly $2.3m in Bitcoin alleged to be linked to the Chaos ransomware group. According to court filings, the funds were traced to a wallet associated with a suspected member of the ransomware‐as‐a‐service outfit and were seized after FBI investigators obtained access and moved the coins into government‐controlled accounts.
Investigators say advanced blockchain analytics are now central to such operations, enabling agents to follow crypto as it is moved through chains of wallets and exchanges to addresses allegedly controlled by fraud or laundering networks.
Other U.S. agencies have increased their scrutiny as well. In March 2026, the U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctioned two networks it accused of helping Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel launder fentanyl revenues using cryptocurrency. Treasury identified multiple Ethereum wallet addresses and alleged that cartel operatives converted cash into digital assets before moving funds across blockchain networks.
Officials say the latest seizures show that, despite the borderless nature of cryptocurrency, law enforcement is increasingly able to trace and reclaim stolen funds – and, in some cases, return them to victims.
