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DOJ files forfeiture complaints for $25 million in crypto linked to romance and investment scams, highlighting growing enforcement against crypto fraud.
The U.S. Department of Justice has filed five civil forfeiture complaints seeking more than $25 million in cryptocurrency alleged to be tied to international romance and investment scams that victimized hundreds in the United States and Canada【1】.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| Amount sought | > $25 million |
| Largest complaint | $12.1 million (romance scheme) |
| Victims referenced | > 200 (romance) + > 270 (investment) |
| Related enforcement | Operation First Light 2026 (global anti‑scam effort) |
The complaints, announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the Secret Service’s Washington Field Office, detail three major streams of illicit crypto. The biggest case targets $12.1 million linked to a romance “pig‑butchering” operation that defrauded more than 200 victims, with funds routed through intermediary wallets and mixed with other stolen assets【1】. A second complaint follows $10.4 million tied to over 270 suspected victim transactions, while three smaller cases involve fake investment accounts and a secondary scam promising to recover previously stolen funds【1】.
The DOJ action follows a recent Interpol‑coordinated sweep, Operation First Light 2026, which spanned 97 jurisdictions, resulted in 5,811 arrests and intercepted $283 million in illicit assets【1】. Thai authorities uncovered a laundering network that moved $122.5 million in crypto over ten months, illustrating the scale of cross‑chain token swaps used to hide proceeds【1】. Earlier this year, federal agents seized over $61 million in USDT stablecoin from addresses linked to fraudulent investment platforms, underscoring a pattern of law‑enforcement focus on crypto‑enabled scams【1】.
A separate federal complaint from Alabama details a single victim who lost his life savings in a “pig‑butchering” scam. Prosecutors tracked $222,000 in USDT through multiple wallets and exchanges before securing a seizure under a federal warrant【2】. This case mirrors the larger DOJ actions, showing that both high‑value and smaller‑scale scams are being pursued.
These filings signal a maturing enforcement approach that leverages blockchain analytics to disrupt crypto‑facilitated fraud. The outcomes will clarify the legal boundaries for asset recovery in decentralized finance and may influence future international anti‑scam operations.
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AI-assisted synthesis by the TrendWatcher Editorial Desk · sourced from 4 outlets · Jul 22, 2026 · How we report
Crypto kiosks are ATM‑like machines that allow users to deposit cash and receive cryptocurrency, but scammers exploit them to move cash into untraceable digital assets, often leaving victims without the cash they deposited.
Police in Haverhill traced around $500,000 in losses to seven kiosks, and the FBI reported nearly $7 million in kiosk‑related fraud statewide for 2022.
U.S. prosecutors have filed five civil‑forfeiture complaints seeking about $26.4 million in cryptocurrency tied to international scams, aiming to freeze assets before suspect identification.
While four states have banned crypto kiosks and over 30 have imposed restrictions, Massachusetts currently has no specific laws regulating them, leaving the industry largely unregulated.
Law enforcement reports indicate that many large‑deposit victims are older adults, with an estimate that 80% of the biggest depositors at kiosks are scam victims, often over age 67.