The US government is asking victims of a recently busted crypto fraud scheme to come forward to collect their lost money.
In a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, officials say they have recovered and cleared the title to $7 million of investment fraud proceeds using civil asset forfeiture.
The Justice Department (DOJ) says that the government will now begin inviting the victims of the fraud to submit petitions to have those funds returned to them.
Citing court documents, the DOJ says it uncovered a fraud scheme in which perpetrators used social engineering to lure victims into investing in crypto assets using websites that mirror legitimate platforms.
“The social engineering involved the perpetrators getting to know the victims and earning their trust before introducing them to cryptocurrency investment ideas through the spoofed websites. These websites were set up to mimic legitimate cryptocurrency investment platforms, but funneled victim funds to the perpetrators through over 75 bank accounts in the names of shell companies.
The sites falsely represented to the victims that their investments were making sizeable gains. However, when victims would attempt to make withdrawals, the perpetrators would coerce the victims to send even more money using tactics such as claiming the victims owed taxes on their purported profits.”
The DOJ did not name any individual or organization involved in the case.
US authorities began seizing some of the investment fraud’s proceeds from a bank account set up with a foreign bank in June of 2023. The US subsequently filed a complaint with a District Court to start the civil forfeiture process against the seized funds.
The government ultimately reached a settlement, freeing up $7 million of the seized funds so it could be forfeited to the United States and given back to the victims.
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