Justice Served: $225M in Stolen Crypto Seized in Largest U.S. Scam Crackdown
- Keyword Financial
- Jun 18
- 3 min read
Introduction
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has seized over $225 million in cryptocurrency, marking the largest crypto seizure in U.S. Secret Service history. This action is part of a crackdown on a global fraud network that targeted more than 400 victims through so-called “pig butchering” scams. The operation involved hundreds of thousands of blockchain transactions designed to hide the origins of the stolen money, making it one of the most complex cases of its kind to date.
Authorities were able to trace the illicit funds using advanced blockchain analysis tools, with significant assistance from Tether, the issuer of the USDT stablecoin. Tether froze the $225 million in USDT, helping law enforcement prevent the funds from being moved or laundered further. The DOJ’s civil forfeiture complaint details how the criminal network dispersed the stolen assets across numerous cryptocurrency addresses and platforms to obscure their trail. The FBI and Secret Service, both operating out of San Francisco, led the investigation, which is seen as a major step in disrupting organized cybercrime and recovering assets for victims.
