Secret Service seizes $25M in crypto across five probes

Federal prosecutors in Washington and agents from the U.S. Secret Service announced on July 21 the seizure of more than $25 million in cryptocurrency in five civil forfeiture complaints linked to international fraud schemes affecting U.S. and Canadian residents.

The announcement stated, “Multiple investigations conducted by its Cyber Fraud Task Force have resulted in the seizure of more than $25 million in cryptocurrency tied to international fraud schemes targeting residents of the United States and Canada.” Prosecutors filed the forfeiture complaints while investigators trace how the funds were laundered and who ran the networks.

The largest forfeiture seeks about $12.1 million tied to romance scams that investigators say affected more than 200 victims. Prosecutors allege scammers routed proceeds through hundreds of intermediary wallet addresses and mixed those funds with payments from other victims to obscure the origin of the assets.

A second major complaint targets roughly $10.4 million after Canadian authorities alerted U.S. agents to a cluster of wallets believed to contain proceeds from fraudulent investment platforms. Investigators traced more than 270 suspected victim transactions to that network. Together, the two complaints cover about 85% of the cryptocurrency identified in the five filings.

The remaining actions seek roughly $1.2 million from operators of an apparent cryptocurrency trading platform that cut off contact when a user tried to withdraw funds, nearly $2.4 million frozen across six wallet addresses after two victims transferred millions to a single fraudulent platform, and about $285,000 tied to a recovery scam where perpetrators demanded an upfront fee to return previously stolen funds.

Investigators traced much of the laundering activity to Southeast Asia and identified internet protocol addresses linked to China, Malaysia and Cambodia. The Secret Service described the cases as active and said agents are working with domestic and international partners to identify suspects and dismantle laundering networks.

Federal law enforcement data show continued growth in crypto-related fraud. The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Complaint Center report recorded 1,008,597 complaints and $20.88 billion in reported losses, a 26% increase from 2024; investment fraud accounted for about $8.65 billion, and cryptocurrency was cited in 181,565 complaints. During a May 2026 disruption operation, the Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force reported more than 1.4 million scam-linked social media and email accounts removed, companies freezing over $3.8 million in cryptocurrency and Thai authorities arresting seven suspected scammers.

Officials noted the Scam Center Strike Force, launched in November 2025, has helped recover more than $800 million through coordinated actions with technology companies, crypto firms and international law enforcement. Authorities urged potential victims to contact a local Secret Service field office or file a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center and warned that fraudsters increasingly use advanced techniques, including AI-enabled methods, to target prior victims through recovery schemes.