Brooklyn DA, FBI Disrupt Crypto Scam Infrastructure

The Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office and the FBI disrupted 241 domains and seized 112 servers tied to a cryptocurrency investment fraud operation targeting Russian-speaking victims, officials announced October 14. The action followed an investigation lasting about three years. No arrests were announced, and no suspects were named in coverage of the operation. According to the District Attorney’s Office, the scheme drew people in through Russian-language Facebook advertisements promoting investment opportunities. People who responded were contacted by purported investment advisers, who guided them through opening cryptocurrency accounts and transferring funds to platforms. When victims tried to withdraw money, prosecutors said, they were locked out or told to pay additional fees and taxes. Investigators said the seized servers contained victim information, website content and software used to operate the network. Prosecutors said the operation targeted the infrastructure behind the websites, as replacement sites had appeared quickly after earlier efforts to disrupt similar domains.