US Government Initiates Legal Action Against Tether Linked to Scam on Binance
The US government has taken legal action against $200,000 worth of Tether (USDT) held on the Binance exchange, according to documents filed in the US District Court of Columbia. These cryptocurrencies were connected to a popular crypto scam involving pig-butchering, amounting to $1.1 million.
The court has labeled the alleged offenses as “wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering, and money laundering conspiracy.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized USDT funds from criminals overseas who were involved in “pig-butchering” scams, where scammers create fake profiles to deceive victims into fraudulent investment schemes.
An anonymous victim reported falling victim to two separate pig-butchering scams, resulting in losses of approximately $1.1 million between January 2021 and December 2022.
The US government aims to lawfully forfeit the Tether crypto in order to:
– Punish and deter criminal activities by depriving criminals of proceeds obtained through illegal means
– Enhance cooperation among federal and foreign law enforcement agencies
– Recover assets that could be used to compensate victims
In one of the romance scams, the victim connected with a scammer named Eva Markus on Facebook’s dating app in December 2020. The scammer posed as a woman named Markus with a fake profile picture and claimed to be an engineering consultant from Boston working in Turkey. The victim was convinced to send funds to help with a supposed diamond mine explosion, resulting in a loss of over $400,000.
In a second romance scam, the victim fell for another scammer posing as Lisa Warren, who persuaded the victim to invest in crypto and transfer funds to a controlled wallet. Despite sending $55,000 in Bitcoin and selling their house to invest more, the victim only received $15,000 back out of the $600,000 invested.
After tracing the victim’s funds to a Binance account, Binance froze the funds and informed the authorities. The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued a warning against the increasing prevalence of crypto-related “pig-butchering” and romance scams.
