The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) claims to have intercepted millions of dollars’ worth of bitcoin from foreign con artists who prey on the elderly.
The scammers convinced the victims to send money to them for “safekeeping” by assuming to be representatives of American law enforcement authorities.
FBI claims to have seized bitcoin from overseas scammers.
Bitcoin and other digital assets have been seized in connection with a fraud scheme that targets the elderly, according to a Friday announcement from the United States 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).
About 151 bitcoins and other digital assets have been forfeited as a result of an investigation into a fraud scheme that preyed on helpless victims.
The hoax, which took place in around October 2020, involved persons from abroad posing as members of American law enforcement agencies.
The authorities claimed that they specifically targeted “weak victims, including first-generation Americans and elderly folks.”
Once the foreigners had access to the victims’ money, they transferred it between various bank accounts and changed it to digital currency, such as bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The release continues, “Law enforcement officers tracked the victims’ funds via the numerous accounts and discovered a digital wallet storing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that had been acquired using the victims’ funds.”
The announcement clarifies that “a civil asset forfeiture seizure warrant for the digital wallet” has been granted to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, elaborating:
Because the digital assets were the proceeds of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office used the civil asset forfeiture procedure.