US authorities to return $ 8.2m obtained from ‘incorrect number’ scammers to victims
US authorities are working to return $ 8.2 million to crypto frozen and get from three scam addresses to victims of a con involving fraudulent messages and a fake investment scheme.
The scam is involved in sending messages to random phone numbers pretending to have the wrong number. From there, the scammers will be friends the recipient, gain their confidence and eventually convince them to invest in a crypto scam.
The FBI recognized 33 people who were scams; Another five should still be identified, with total losses at $ 6 million, according to one Feb. 28 statement From the office of the Ohio district attorney.
The FBI identified the 33 people who were the scams of the scam, along with another five still identified. Source: US JUSTICE Department
Investigators have conducted a Blockchain analysis After a victim filed a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in June and found a portion of stolen funds was converted to Tether (USDT) and moved to three cryptocurrency addresses.
After authorities conducted a federal seizure warrant, Tether cooled the funds and moved it to a lawsuit controlled by law, where they had been sitting since.
In a Feb. 27 Forfeiture Complaint Filed in a court of the Ohio district, which is conducting a US lawyer for Ohio Carol Skutnik and US assistant attorney James Morford is asking the court to have all funds in three addresses that have lost so they can return it to the victims.
The pair said the accounts “contain additional funds above the victims of traceable losses,” used in Money laundering and wire fraudwhich reaches $ 8.2 million.
How did the scam work
Skutnik and Morford told the complaint that scammers contacted the victims by seemingly harmless, false author, or “wrong number” messages sent through text messages, former applications and professional meet-up groups.
“The fraud then gained the victim’s trust and affection with various manipulative tactics. When the trust with the victim was established, the cheaters would share how much they succeeded, or someone they knew, had a cryptocurrency investment,” Skutnik and Morford said.
“This personal testimony has reduced any uncertainty that victims may have about virtual currencies and eventually have an impact to encourage the victim to continue investing.”
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The scams are said to guide the victims by opening legitimate crypto exchange accounts and transferring funds to a fake site controlled by scammers. The site has promised the beneficial return and encouraged further investment.
At one time, authorities said that a Ohio female was duplicated to send scammers more money, claiming that she had to make additional payments to release her initial funding.
After losing his lifestyle, $ 663,000, he could no longer send any funds, and scams were said to have threatened harm to his friends and family unless he sent more money.
Blockchain analytics firm said chainalysis Generative AI are making scams more scalable and reaching out for evil actorswhich could result in record losses throughout 2025.
Meanwhile, Onchain Security Firm Cyvers said the pig Butchering scams are one of the most significant threats In investors in crypto, with billions of billions -billions of the whole 200,000 identified cases in 2024.
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