The U.S. Justice Department is targeting cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes, filing a civil forfeiture complaint on June 18 to seize over $225.3 million in cryptocurrency. The money is part of the perpetrators’ plan to steal and launder money using Ransomware-as-a-Service platforms. Victims were led to believe that they were making bona fide cryptocurrency investments.

Matthew R. Galeotti, chief of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, noted the real-world impact of these schemes. He noted that cryptocurrency investment fraud siphons billions of dollars from American victims each year. This blatant dishonesty undermines trust in all of crypto’s ecosystem.

Last year alone, the Justice Department announced a 29% rise in complaints connected to these schemes versus 2022. All the while, losses have increased 47%.

The $225.3 million seizure is the Secret Service’s largest cryptocurrency seizure ever. The probe focused on a massive money laundering network. It’s alleged this enterprise defrauded more than 400 victims resulting in millions of dollars in losses.

"Today’s civil forfeiture complaint is the latest action taken by the Department to protect the American public from fraudsters specializing in cryptocurrency-based scams, and it will not be the last," - Matthew R. Galeotti

The Justice Department’s action is a striking move, the Biden administration’s most concerted effort to date to disrupt cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes. Seized cryptocurrency is specifically linked to the laundering of funds acquired through these false schemes.

The department is committing serious resources to shield the public from cryptocurrency-enabled fraud. They are resolutely refusing to be outworked by fraudsters here.