Secret Service Seized $25 Million in Crypto Across Five Scam Cases — One Targeted a Victim Twice

Federal investigators have seized more than $25 million in cryptocurrency across five separate scam investigations.

The five amounts listed by prosecutors add up to about $26.4 million.

One case began with hundreds of romance-scam victims. Another started when Canadian authorities flagged a web of wallet addresses. Two involved fake investment accounts that worked until the victims tried to withdraw.

The fifth was especially cruel.

Scammers contacted someone who had already lost money in an unrelated fraud, claimed the stolen funds had been recovered and demanded a fee to release them.

The victim paid and was robbed again.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced the seizures on July 21 after Secret Service Washington Field Office agents traced the money through separate laundering networks. Prosecutors filed five civil forfeiture complaints in federal court seeking to keep the recovered cryptocurrency and eventually direct eligible funds toward victims.

The government says the investigations identified thousands of victims worldwide. The schemes targeted people in the United States and Canada, while launderers were predominantly based in Southeast Asia.

Investigators found related IP addresses in China, Malaysia and Cambodia.

The two largest complaints seek approximately $12.09 million and $10.4 million. The other three seek about $2.39 million, $1.23 million and $285,000, bringing the listed total to roughly $26.4 million.

One network involved more than 200 romance-scam victims, while another included more than 270 suspected victim transactions. Agents froze identified addresses before asking the court for final forfeiture.

The cases remain open. Civil forfeiture complaints contain allegations, and seizure does not settle final ownership.

A court still has to decide whether the government has met the legal standard to forfeit the assets.

🚨 Here’s a breakdown of the action our Scam Center Strike Force took this week to seize $25M in cryptocurrency from Chinese transnational criminals, as we continue the fight against global fraud schemes. pic.twitter.com/WfXYbiJcHe

— U.S. Attorney DC (@USAO_DC) July 23, 2026

The first complaint seeks approximately $10.4 million.

Canadian authorities alerted the Secret Service in late 2024 to a large network of virtual-currency addresses suspected of moving illicit proceeds. Agents froze the identified addresses and traced more than 270 suspected victim transactions tied to fraudulent investment platforms.

The second complaint is the largest at roughly $12.09 million.

A private-sector partner flagged suspicious transactions. Investigators connected them to more than 200 people defrauded through online romance schemes.

The laundering route was deliberately messy. Prosecutors say the proceeds moved through hundreds of intermediary addresses and were mixed with money from other victims.

That movement can make a wallet balance look disconnected from the person who first sent the funds. It also leaves a chain of transactions for investigators to follow.

The third complaint seeks about $1.23 million.

A victim in the Washington region reported a fake cryptocurrency investment in May. The account appeared legitimate until the victim tried to withdraw, when the people behind it cut off contact.

The fourth seeks roughly $2.39 million.

In that case, a victim transferred millions of dollars in March to what appeared to be an investment account. Agents found a second victim linked to the same platform, traced part of the money to six cryptocurrency addresses and froze it.

The fifth complaint seeks approximately $285,000 from the recovery scam.

The smaller dollar figure does not make the tactic less dangerous. Previous fraud victims are unusually valuable targets because the scammers already know they lost money and want it back.

Some criminal groups sell or share victim lists. Others watch public complaint forums and social media for people asking how to recover crypto.

Then they arrive with a convincing second story.

They may claim to work for law enforcement, a law firm, a blockchain tracing company or an exchange. The promise is always close enough to relief to feel believable.

The fee comes first.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center warns that fraudulent crypto recovery firms demand upfront payments and then disappear, or deliver a weak tracing report before asking for more money. Private companies cannot issue seizure orders.

Exchanges freeze assets through their own procedures or in response to legal process. Law enforcement does not charge victims a fee to investigate a crime.

The IC3 warning says recovery scammers may advertise in search results, social-media replies and comment sections where victims are already looking for help. Some claim an affiliation with police or legal services to make the fee request sound official.

Victims can verify any claimed FBI contact through an independently located field-office number. They should preserve the wallet addresses, transaction details and messages connected to both the first scam and the recovery attempt.

The safest response to an unsolicited recovery offer is to stop the conversation. Do not send money, wallet credentials, seed phrases, account logins or identification documents.

Look up the agency or company independently and contact it through an official website.

Quick reporting can still help legitimate investigators.

Wallet addresses, transaction hashes, exchange receipts, chat logs, email headers, phone numbers and screenshots give agents something concrete to trace. A public blockchain preserves the transaction trail even when criminals move funds through many addresses.

That trail does not guarantee recovery.

Funds can cross chains, enter exchanges in foreign jurisdictions, pass through mixers or be converted into cash. Investigators still need cooperation, legal authority and speed.

The Scam Center Strike Force says its crypto-seizure team had restrained $832,831,006.15 from related schemes as of its June 18 update. The task force combines the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Justice Department prosecutors, FBI, Secret Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Postal Inspection Service, DEA and regional U.S. Attorney offices.

Its work goes beyond wallet seizures. The task force targets scam-compound leaders, U.S.-based internet infrastructure, social-media accounts and the companies that can cut those operations off from American victims.

U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro launched the effort in November 2025. She described this week’s seizure as one result of aggressively pursuing the international laundering networks behind the scams.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced the seizure of over 25 million dollars in cryptocurrency connected to international fraud networks, including online romance scams and fake investment schemes. https://t.co/aUIjnFws9u

— The Washington Times (@WashTimes) July 23, 2026

The five new complaints show why wallet tracing has become a core law-enforcement tool.

Romance stories, fake dashboards and recovery promises happen offchain. The payments leave records onchain.

Investigators followed those records through hundreds of addresses and froze assets before every path went cold.

For victims, the hardest rule is also the most useful one: anyone demanding a new payment to unlock old stolen crypto is trying to take more.

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