The US Department of Justice announced that the Scam Center Strike Force executed an operation to freeze more than $701 million in cryptocurrency linked to investment scams targeting US consumers. The action involved a combination of legal orders and voluntary cooperation from major crypto exchanges. The frozen assets represent proceeds from fraudulent schemes that enticed victims into sending digital assets under false pretenses.
The Strike Force leveraged subpoenas and court-authorized restraints to identify and restrict transactions from wallets associated with a network of overseas scam centers. The restrained funds included Bitcoin, Ethereum and several stablecoins converted from scam proceeds across multiple blockchain platforms. Exchanges complied with law enforcement requests under the terms of existing mutual legal assistance treaties and domestic injunctions.
In parallel, the operation resulted in the seizure of a Telegram channel used to recruit unwitting job seekers into scam call centers based in Southeast Asia. The channel had been promoting opportunities to work remotely while conducting deceptive investment outreach. Following identification of the channel administrators, platform operators terminated the channel and preserved records for ongoing criminal investigations.
Law enforcement also coordinated takedown of 503 fraudulent websites that mimicked legitimate crypto investment platforms. Those domains were replaced with official seizure notices indicating law enforcement control. Victim outreach teams were deployed to notify individuals whose wallets had been targeted, and recovery specialists began the process of returning funds when possible under forfeiture statutes.
The operation further included unsealing of criminal complaints and arrest warrants for two foreign nationals accused of managing a large-scale crypto fraud operation. Publicly released documents allege management of a network recruiting victims to transfer funds in crypto to offshore custodial accounts. A Department of State reward of up to $10 million has been offered for information leading to the disruption of remaining scam centers.
International partners in Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom assisted through joint investigations and data sharing, resulting in parallel freezes of assets and arrests of individuals facilitating money laundering. Financial intelligence units provided blockchain analytics to trace laundering routes. The coordinated effort underscores a global commitment to disrupting crypto-enabled fraud at scale.
Regulators have cited this operation as a model for future joint actions against decentralized financial crime. Exchanges are reviewing internal compliance protocols to ensure rapid response to law enforcement directives. Industry experts note that the scale of the seizure highlights the ongoing risk of illicit use of decentralized networks when safeguards are not rigorously enforced.
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