Kevin Helms
A student of Austrian economics, Kevin found Bitcoin in 2011 and has been an evangelist ever since. His interests lie in Bitcoin security, open source systems, network effects and the intersection of finance and cryptography.
FBI Seizes Bitcoin From Overseas Fraudsters Posing As US Law Enforcement – Featured Bitcoin News
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) says it has seized millions of dollars worth of bitcoin from foreign fraudsters targeting the elderly. The scammers posed as members of US law enforcement agencies and tricked victims into transferring money to them for “safekeeping”.
The FBI says it has seized Bitcoin from scammers overseas
The US Attorney for the District of Connecticut and the Acting Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced on Friday that bitcoin and other digital assets have been seized in connection with a fraudulent scheme targeting the elderly. They detailed:
An investigation into a fraud scheme targeting vulnerable victims has resulted in the seizure of approximately 151 bitcoins, as well as other digital assets.
The case is being investigated by the FBI, the US Secret Service and the US Marshals Service. At the time of writing, the value of the allegedly seized bitcoin was approximately $3.5 million.
The scam, which occurred in approximately October 2020, involved foreign individuals posing as members of US law enforcement agencies. They targeted “vulnerable victims, including first-generation U.S. citizens and the elderly,” authorities said. Through phone calls, they told the victims that their identities had been compromised. After gaining the victims’ trust, the fraudsters asked for money transfers for “safekeeping” with the promise of returning the funds plus interest. Announcement Details:
Once the foreign individuals had access to the victims’ money, they moved the money through multiple bank accounts and converted the money into digital currency in the form of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
“Law enforcement investigators traced the victims’ money through the various accounts and identified a digital wallet containing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that had been purchased with the victims’ money,” the announcement added. Authorities noted that the foreign fraudsters are still at large.
The US attorney’s office has obtained “a civil seizure order for the digital wallet,” the announcement clarifies, elaborating:
The US Attorney’s Office used the civil forfeiture procedure because the digital assets constituted the proceeds of fraud.
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