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Published: Nov. 21, 2023 at 9:58 a.m. ET

By Denny Jacob

The Department of Justice seized nearly $9 million in cryptocurrency that was traced back to addresses allegedly associated with an organization of scammers.

DOJ said the seized funds were traced to cryptocurrency addresses allegedly associated with an organization that exploited over 70 victims through romance scams and cryptocurrency...

By Denny Jacob

The Department of Justice seized nearly $9 million in cryptocurrency that was traced back to addresses allegedly associated with an organization of scammers.

DOJ said the seized funds were traced to cryptocurrency addresses allegedly associated with an organization that exploited over 70 victims through romance scams and cryptocurrency confidence scams. The seizure consisted of $9 million worth of Tether, a cryptocurrency pegged to the U.S. dollar.

The criminal actors worked together to target victims and convince them to make cryptocurrency deposits by fraudulently representing that the victims were making investments with trusted firms and cryptocurrency exchanges, the Justice Department said, citing court documents. The purported firms and cryptocurrency exchanges were nonexistent trading platforms in reality, it added.

"The truth is that these international criminal actors are simply stealing cryptocurrency and leaving victims with nothing," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.

Write to Denny Jacob at denny.jacob@wsj.com

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DOJ Seizes Nearly $9M Worth of Cryptocurrency Tied to Scammers - MarketWatch