The US Department of Justice has confiscated bitcoin stolen from an elderly man in a government fraud scam and will return the cryptocurrency to him. “The fraudsters deceived the victim into believing that her personal information was used to facilitate a drug trafficking and money laundering scheme,” the DOJ detailed.
DOJ returns stolen bitcoin from elderly victim
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Tuesday the “successful seizure and return of stolen cryptocurrency” [an] Elderly victim of government fraud scam.
The DOJ explained that in August last year, counterfeiters contacted the victim by phone, claiming she was in the inspector general’s office, and said:
The fraudsters tricked the victim into believing that her personal information was used to facilitate a drug trafficking and money laundering scheme, and that all of the victim’s assets would be confiscated as a result.
The Justice Department said, “A fraudster, who identified himself as Agent James Hoffman, told the victim to keep the funds in a secure government account until the government verified that the victim was not involved in criminal activity.” was required to submit.”
The DOJ said the scammers further demanded all of the victim’s personally identifiable information and details of her financial accounts.
They went on to instruct the victim to “use hundreds of thousands of dollars in their retirement funds” to purchase bitcoin through cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
According to the DOJ:
On August 31, 2021, 12.164699 bitcoins, worth approximately $574,766, were transferred from the victim’s Coinbase account to an account controlled by the fraudsters.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Coinbase eventually identified the transfer as a potential major financial fraud. “Following an investigation and successful civil forfeiture proceedings, the confiscated cryptocurrency will be confiscated in the United States and returned to the victim,” the Justice Department confirmed.
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