US authorities have seized cryptocurrencies from a scammer acting on behalf of Trump’s inaugural committee

What’s new? US authorities have uncovered a fraudulent scheme in which an attacker posed as a member of President Donald Trump’s inaugural committee and Vice President J.D. Vance and stole $250 300 in cryptocurrency. He then laundered the funds through other wallets, but the FBI was able to trace and recover $40 300. The DOJ is now demanding that these funds be returned to the victim.

DOJ press release

What else is known? According to the DOJ, on December 24, 2024, several victims received an email from a scammer posing as Inaugural Committee co-chair Steve Witkoff. His email domain differed from the committee's original domain by only one character.

The impostor, operating from Nigeria, called for funds to be deposited into a crypto wallet on the Ethereum network, and one of the victims sent 250 300 USDT stablecoins from the issuer Tether. The scammer then transferred funds to other cryptocurrency addresses within two hours.

Using blockchain analysis, the FBI identified and recovered 40 300 USDT, which is now subject to forfeiture in a civil lawsuit.

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In a press release, the DOJ thanked Tether for its assistance in recovering the stolen cryptocurrencies. The company regularly cooperates with law enforcement officials in various countries and freezes USDT linked to criminal activity.

Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro urged crypto users to be vigilant when sending funds, as recovering them can be difficult “due to the extremely complex nature of the blockchain.”

FBI official Steven J. Jensen emphasized that scammers steal billions of dollars from Americans every year by impersonating other individuals. He urged not to send cryptocurrency to personal strangers and to report fraud to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) run by the FBI.

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According to an April report by IC3, in 2024, the damage from cryptocurrency fraud increased by 66% and reached $9,3 billion.

In June, the Justice Department demanded the confiscation of $7,74 million from blockchain developers from North Korea, as they circumvented sanctions by getting jobs in the United States to finance a weapons program.