The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Massachusetts is seeking the recovery of approximately $2.3 million in cryptocurrency, which includes profits from a so-called “pig butchering” fraud scheme targeting a Massachusetts resident as part of a romance scam, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Prosecutors began investigating the fraud in the spring of 2023, and found a Massachusetts resident had been tricked into wiring more than $400,000 into a cryptocurrency wallet, acting U.S Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement.
While the wallet was hosted by a legitimate cryptocurrency exchange, some of the funds were transferred to other wallets and ultimately to Binance, another crypto exchange.
The money was traced to a pair of Binance accounts, and the crypotcurrency was seized in January 2024, Levy’s office said in a statement. The accounts the cryptocurrency was seized from were associated with funds from 36 other victims of fraud across the nation.
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In a “pig-butchering” scheme, scammers establish a relationship with their targets through online communications, manipulating them into investing in fraudulent cryptocurrency schemes, prosecutors said.
Victims of the scheme are often encouraged to make additional payments before they realize they are being scammed.
“The “butchering” or “slaughtering” of the victim occurs once the victim’s assets, or funds, are stolen by the criminal, or criminals, ultimately causing the victim financial and emotional harm,” the statement read. “Perpetrators behind “pig butchering” fraud schemes are often located overseas.”
Prosecutors say the cryptocurrency can be traced to procees of wire fraud and was involved in money laundering, making it subject to forfeiture. A civil forfeiture action, such as the one filed by Levy’s office, could ultimately allow property to be returned to victims.
The action announced Wednesday is one of several filed by Levy’s office connected to cryptocurrency traced to fraud schemes targeting Massachusetts victims.
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