The United States is preparing to return a total of $7 million to individuals deceived by fake cryptocurrency investment websites. According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, scammers gained the victims’ trust through social engineering methods and redirected them to counterfeit cryptocurrency investment platforms. Funds invested by victims were funneled overseas through more than 75 bank accounts opened in the names of fraudulent companies. In 2023, the U.S. Secret Service recovered part of this money from a foreign bank and subsequently reached an agreement to refund $7 million to the victims.
How Did Fake Crypto Platforms Operate?
Scammers lured victims with promises of significant profits through their fake cryptocurrency investment sites. Initially, they built trust by communicating with victims and then directed them to counterfeit websites that appeared to be legitimate cryptocurrency exchanges.
Individuals investing on these platforms were convinced that their investments were yielding high returns. However, when victims attempted to withdraw their funds, they were told by scammers that they needed to make additional payments for taxes or commissions, leading to further investments.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that scammers initially deposited the money into numerous accounts opened in the names of fake companies, later transferring these funds abroad while disguising the transactions as domestic transfers. The bank involved in the laundering scheme agreed to return the seized amount of $7 million after negotiations with U.S. authorities.
New Methods in Crypto Scams
Chainalysis highlighted in its 2025 Crypto Crime Report that cryptocurrency scams are becoming increasingly professional and are now often managed by organized crime groups. Recently, the Australian Federal Police warned 130 individuals about fake messages using the names of reputable exchanges like Binance. Similarly, scams involving names like Coinbase and Gemini have encouraged users to create new wallets, aiming to steal assets using pre-established recovery phrases.
Additionally, Malwarebytes alerted users to new types of malware hidden in fake versions of TradingView Premium used by cryptocurrency enthusiasts. Microsoft’s Incident Response Team recently disclosed the discovery of a new remote access trojan (RAT) targeting 20 different cryptocurrency wallet extensions in the Google Chrome browser.
