The US Department of Justice has moved to seize more than $25 million in digital assets linked to international scams targeting victims in Canada and the United States.
Details of the DOJ crypto asset forfeiture
On Tuesday, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia reported that authorities filed five separate forfeiture complaints targeting digital funds tied to investment, romance, and recovery scams. The action involved Secret Service agents in Washington and separate investigations conducted by the Cyber Fraud Task Force.
US officials uncovered multiple money-laundering networks while investigating the seized assets, connecting them to thousands of victims worldwide. The DOJ stated that the networks relied on sophisticated social engineering schemes, luring individuals with fraudulent digital asset investments passed off as legitimate opportunities.
The largest of the five cases seeks $12.1 million in restitution related to romance scams impacting over 200 victims. According to authorities, the proceeds were routed through intermediary cryptocurrency addresses and commingled with other illicit funds to obscure their origins.
Another complaint demands $10.4 million, involving over 270 fraudulent transactions. Three additional complaints address fake investment accounts, while one case centers on a recovery scam that promised to recoup money already stolen from the victims.
The DOJ indicated that the primary suspects operated mainly from Southeast Asia, with digital footprints traced to IP addresses in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia.
According to the complaints, scammers blended social engineering tactics with deceptive trading platforms. Stolen assets were quickly transferred into various cryptocurrency wallets in an attempt to evade authorities.
Mini dictionary: Cyber Fraud Task Force, a specialized unit within US law enforcement focused on investigating and combatting complex online financial crimes, including those involving digital assets and cryptocurrencies.
Victims were targeted worldwide, with investigators linking the stolen funds to a range of romance, recovery, and investment scams promoted as legitimate opportunities and later routed through cryptocurrency wallets for laundering.
Links to global law enforcement efforts
The DOJ’s crypto seizure follows the launch of Interpol’s Operation First Light 2026, an international enforcement campaign spanning 97 countries and territories. Interpol reported 5,811 arrests and the interception of $283 million in illicit assets during the operation.
Interpol identified over 142,000 scam victims during these actions and reported that more than 31,000 bank accounts have been blocked. The figures reflect the global scale of social engineering and online investment fraud impacting financial systems worldwide.
In Thailand, law enforcement dismantled an alleged network responsible for converting romance scam profits to cryptocurrency using cross-chain swaps. Data showed one associated wallet processed over $122.5 million within ten months.
| Location | Type of Scam | Funds Seized | Number of Victims |
|---|---|---|---|
| US & Canada | Romance, Investment, Recovery | $25 million | Thousands |
| Thailand | Romance | $122.5 million (wallet) | Data not provided |
| Global (Operation First Light) | Social engineering, Investment scams | $283 million | 142,000+ |
Recent US enforcement actions add to the broader crackdown on digital asset crime. In February, federal agents seized over $61 million in USDT from wallets laundering proceeds connected to fraudulent investment platforms.
Investigators found that scammers often gained the trust of victims by initiating romantic relationships online before persuading them to use counterfeit trading applications. The funds were then transferred through a series of wallets, with law enforcement ultimately managing to follow the trail and recover assets.
Federal authorities identified romance scams as a growing method of financial fraud, noting that criminals used social manipulation to encourage victims into using fraudulent platforms where their funds were ultimately siphoned into cryptocurrency wallets controlled by the perpetrators.
