US Prosecutors Seek $327K Crypto Forfeiture In 2024 Romance Scam Case

Federal prosecutors in Massachusetts are moving to seize $327,829 in USDT tied to a romance crypto scam that drained a victim’s savings in late 2024. The scammer posed as a love interest, dangled a fake crypto investment, and vanished with the money.

“It is a violation of federal law to conduct a financial transaction knowing that the transaction is designed to conceal the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of criminal proceeds,” the US Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts said.

Romance scams involving crypto cost Americans over $1.3 billion in 2023 alone, and the numbers keep climbing. This forfeiture case is both a cautionary tale and a rare example of prosecutors actually fighting back.

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The Massachusetts Case: How a Fake Persona Stole $327K

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, an individual operating under the name “Linda Brown” contacted a Massachusetts resident through an online dating app in November 2024. After a few weeks of building trust, “Brown” pitched what appeared to be a legitimate cryptocurrency investment opportunity.

The victim sent funds to crypto wallets controlled by the scammer,  genuinely believing the returns were real. When they tried to withdraw their money, the walls closed in. The funds had already been moved through multiple wallets and converted into USDT to obscure their trail. This is a money laundering technique federal law explicitly prohibits.

Prosecutors filed a civil forfeiture action (a legal process that lets the government reclaim criminally obtained property and potentially return it to victims) after tracing at least a portion of the stolen funds to wallets seized in August 2025. The government must still prove by a preponderance of evidence, meaning it’s more likely than not, that the funds are linked to the crime before they can be returned.

US Attorney Leah Foley announces 4 individuals in Massachusetts ran a multi-state EBT scam

Over a million dollars stolen from taxpayers and used to buy food in bulk for a restaurant

They then used the profits to send overseas to Venezuela and the Dominican Republic

The… pic.twitter.com/emHuFpp1vW

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) February 4, 2026

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Pig Butchering: The Crypto Scam Mechanic You Need to Understand

What happened in Massachusetts has a name: “pig butchering” (a term that refers to the practice of “fattening up” a victim with affection and fake profits before the financial “slaughter”). These scams originated in China around 2018 and exploded globally after 2020, with organized crime networks in Southeast Asia running them at industrial scale.

Think of it like a long con at a casino. The scammer doesn’t rob you at the door — they buy you drinks, compliment your outfit, and let you “win” a few small hands first. Those early fake investment gains are the bait. By the time the victim tries to cash out, the platform is a ghost, and the scammer has disappeared.

Crypto is the preferred tool because transactions are fast, cross-border, and hard to reverse. Scammers often start victims on legitimate platforms like Coinbase to build confidence, then steer them toward unregulated fake investment sites. Common red flags include demands for “mining fees” or “blockchain certificates” before you can withdraw — fees that drain your wallet instantly and go straight to the scammer. Just recently, criminals physically targeted a Binance employee’s family in France, underscoring how aggressively bad actors pursue crypto holders through any means available.

The good news is that blockchain forensics are getting sharper. The DOJ is partnering with firms like Chainalysis and Elliptic to trace laundered funds across wallets and borders. And cases like this one in Massachusetts show that recovery, while slow, is sometimes possible. Awareness remains your best first line of defense.

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