US Government Seeks Seizure of Tether from Binance Linked to Scam Activities
The US government has taken legal action to seize $200,000 worth of Tether (USDT) held in the Binance exchange. Documents filed in the US District Court of Columbia revealed that the cryptos were connected to a notorious pig-butchering crypto scam valued at $1.1 million.
The court has labeled the case as involving “wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering, and money laundering conspiracy.”
According to the documents, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confiscated USDT funds from criminals involved in “pig-butchering” scams overseas. These scams involve creating fake profiles to deceive victims into fraudulent investment schemes.
An anonymous victim reported falling victim to two separate pig-butchering scams, losing approximately $1.1 million between January 2021 and December 2022.
The US government aims to seize the Tether crypto in order to:
– Punish and deter criminal activities by depriving criminals of assets acquired through illegal means,
– Enhance cooperation among federal and foreign law enforcement agencies,
– Recover assets to compensate victims.
In one of the romance scams, the victim interacted with a scammer named Eva Markus on Facebook’s dating app in December 2020. Markus, who claimed to be an engineering consultant from Boston, convinced the victim to send funds to hire an attorney after a fake diamond mine explosion. The victim transferred over $400,000.
In another scam, the victim was duped by a scammer named Lisa Warren into investing in crypto and transferring funds to Warren’s wallet. The victim ultimately lost around $600,000 in total.
After tracing the victim’s funds to a Binance account, the FBI froze the funds and alerted authorities. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has also issued a warning against the increasing prevalence of crypto-related “pig-butchering” scams and romance scams.
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