US authorities to return $8.2M seized from crypto ‘wrong number’ scammers to victims

An Ohio woman lost her life savings to the scam, and the fraudsters allegedly threatened harm to her friends and family unless she sent more money.

US authorities are working to return $8.2 million in crypto frozen and seized from three scam addresses to victims of a con involving fraudulent messages and a fake investment scheme. 

The scam involved sending messages to random phone numbers pretending to have the wrong number. From there, the scammers would befriend the recipient, gain their trust and eventually convince them to invest in a crypto scam. 

The FBI has identified 33 people snared by the scam; another five are still to be identified, with total losses at $6 million, according to a Feb. 28 statement from the Ohio District Attorney’s office. 

Read more