- The U.S. Secret Service is open to returning $7 million seized from scammers
- The agency has urged affected victims to reach out
- Scammers packaged their activities as legitimate investment opportunities
The United States Secret Service is willing to return $7 million seized from scammers in 2023 and has asked affected victims to contact the agency. The scammers promoted their activities as genuine investments, making victims think they had bagged legitimate investment opportunities. A U.S. court said that victims are open “to submit petitions to have the funds remitted back to them,” a process that may take time as the agency needs to verify the authenticity of the claims.
Scammers Sent Funds to Foreign Bank Accounts
According to an announcement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Virginia, the funds were sized from a bank account belonging to a foreign bank, marking the start of civil forfeiture proceedings.
The United States has recovered and cleared title to $7 million of investment fraud proceeds using civil asset forfeiture; victims may submit petitions to have the funds remitted back to them.#USSS #EDVA #justice https://t.co/h4DlRzQgZx
— U.S. Attorney EDVA (@EDVAnews) March 21, 2025
Court documents show that the scammers used “social engineering” tactics like establishing a personal connection with the victims before proposing an investment idea. The malicious actors marketed the investments using fake websites that mimicked legitimate investment websites.
The court further revealed that funds deposited into the websites went to “over 75 bank accounts in the names of shell companies.” Investors were promised their funds were generating profits.
Scammers Taxed Profits
The victims, however, were unable to withdraw their funds or profits with the malicious actors claiming that they needed to pay “taxes” on their profits before withdrawing their funds, a trick meant to make them deposit more funds.
The intention to return funds to scam victims comes barely a month after the United States president signed an executive order establishing the U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile, a body that holds cryptocurrencies seized by law enforcement agencies.
With the U.S. Secret Service requesting victims to claim the funds, it’s to be seen how long it takes for the agency to verify the claims and whether the victims will receive all of their funds.
