DC U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro announced that freezes and seizures of cryptocurrency by the Scam Center Strike Force have topped $580 million.
These frozen and seized funds have been stolen by Chinese transnational criminal organizations, which use cryptocurrency investment scams and a variety of confidence scams to steal the life savings of everyday Americans.
These scammers use U.S. internet and social media platforms to prey on American victims. Recent reporting estimates that this scam industry defrauds Americans of nearly $10 billion per year.
“In November, I announced the creation of our Scam Center Strike Force to lead the charge. In only three months, we have made significant progress, freezing, seizing, and forfeiting cryptocurrency worth more than $578 million from these criminals. These criminals don’t care who you are, what you believe in, or what you ate for breakfast—all they want is to steal from good and honest Americans to line the pockets of Chinese organized crime,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “My office and our law enforcement partners around the country are taking this threat head-on. Seizures of cryptocurrency is one important part of the Scam Center Strike Force’s work. Through the legal process, my Office will seek to forfeit these funds and return them to victims to the maximum extent possible. To our American victims: we are here for you, we care for you, and we will continue fighting like hell to claw back your hard-earned savings from the hands of Chinese TCOs.”
The Scam Center Strike Force is targeting many of the worst scam compounds located in Southeast Asia. Chinese transnational criminal organizations are using Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud scams and a variety of confidence scams to steal the life savings of everyday Americans. Strike Force teams are focused on identifying and pursuing key leaders—including Chinese organized crime affiliates operating in Burma, Cambodia, and Laos—to bring them to justice.
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These CIF schemes, which fraudsters refer to as “pig butchering” because they are “fattening” up their victims before defrauding them, are often run out of scam compounds in Southeast Asia. Using U.S. social media networks or text messages to U.S.-based cell phones, scammers target their victims, gain their trust, and convince them to invest in real cryptocurrency, only to trick them into transferring those funds to fake cryptocurrency investment websites and applications. Workers in the scam compounds often are victims of human trafficking, held against their will, abused and guarded by armed groups as they are instructed to target Americans. In some Southeast Asian countries where these compounds operate, scam-generated revenue is so massive that it accounts for nearly half of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
The Scam Center Strike Force is a collaboration of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia; DOJ’s Criminal Division, including the Computer Crimes & Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS); Fraud Section; and Money Laundering, Narcotics and Forfeiture Section; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the U.S. Secret Service. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Rhode Island, the Western District of Washington, and the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Unit are also collaborating on the initiative.
For the Department of Justice, the Scam Center Strike Force is led by Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen P. Seifert. The cryptocurrency seizure team is led by Assistant United States Attorneys Rick Blaylock and John Borchert, along with partners from CCIPS. The U.S. Secret Service handles these cryptocurrency seizure matters through the Global Investigative Operation Center and Field Offices in San Francisco, San Diego, Memphis, Washington, D.C., Nashville, and Seattle. From the Federal Bureau of Investigation, these cryptocurrency seizure matters are handled by the Cyber Enabled Fraud and Money Laundering Unit and Field Offices in Washington D.C., San Francisco, Memphis, Honolulu, Phoenix, San Diego, New York City, and Chattanooga.
If you have been defrauded out of your money by a cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme, please contact the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov
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