DOJ Seizes $25M in Crypto Linked to Global Romance Scams

Woofun AI reports that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) initiated five civil forfeiture complaints to recover more than $25 million in cryptocurrency linked to international investment, romance, and recovery scams targeting victims in Canada and the United States. The assets were recovered through separate investigations by the Cyber Fraud Task Force, coordinated by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the US Secret Service’s Washington Field Office.

The largest complaint seeks approximately $12.1 million connected to romance schemes that defrauded over 200 victims, with proceeds routed through intermediary addresses and commingled with other victim funds. Another case targets $10.4 million traced to more than 270 suspected victim transactions, while three smaller cases involve fake investment accounts and a secondary scam offering to recover previously stolen funds.

Woofun AI data shows these laundering networks misled thousands of victims worldwide into believing they were making legitimate digital asset investments.

The DOJ identified that launderers were predominantly located in Southeast Asia, with related IP addresses in China, Malaysia, and Cambodia. This enforcement action follows Interpol’s Operation First Light 2026, which involved 97 countries and territories, resulted in 5,811 arrests, and intercepted $283 million in illicit assets. Interpol stated the operation identified more than 142,000 victims and blocked over 31,000 bank accounts.

As part of the operation, Thai authorities uncovered a network that allegedly converted romance-scam proceeds into crypto and used cross-chain token swaps to obscure the trail. A wallet associated with one suspected money launderer processed more than $122.5 million in crypto over 10 months. This highlights the sophisticated methods used to conceal stolen funds through layered wallet transfers and fraudulent trading platforms.

In February, federal agents seized over $61 million in USDT stablecoin from addresses allegedly used to launder proceeds from fraudulent investment platforms. Investigators noted that scammers first gained trust through romantic relationships, then directed victims to fake trading platforms before moving their money through multiple wallets. This marks a continued effort by US authorities to disrupt crypto-enabled fraud networks, following previous actions such as the DOJ's move to dismiss charges against alleged $722M BitClub fraudster.