US federal prosecutors seized $40,300 in cryptocurrency recovered from an email scam that impersonated the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee, according to a complaint filed by US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
The scheme tricked a donor into sending $250,300 worth of USDt (USDT) stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain to scammers posing as committee officials, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced in a Wednesday news release.
The scammers sent an email on Dec. 24, 2024, that appeared to come from Steve Witkoff, co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. The fake email used the domain @t47lnaugural.com, swapping a lowercase “l” for an “i” to deceive the receiver.
Believing the request was legitimate, the victim transferred the funds two days later into a crypto wallet controlled by the scammers. The stolen funds were quickly laundered through multiple cryptocurrency wallets.
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FBI recovers $40,000 of stolen funds
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was able to trace and recover $40,300 of the stolen USDT through blockchain analysis. Prosecutors are now seeking to return these assets to the victim through a civil forfeiture action.
“Impersonation scams take many forms and cost Americans billions in losses each year,” said Assistant Director in Charge Steven Jensen of the FBI Washington Field Office. He urged the public to scrutinize the addresses of email senders and never send crypto to unknown contacts, adding:
“Scammers often use subtle differences to deceive you and gain your trust. Never send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other assets to people you do not know personally or have only interacted with online or over the phone.”
In May 2024, Donald Trump announced that his presidential campaign would accept cryptocurrency donations through Coinbase Commerce. He launched an official fundraising page that supported Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), XRP (XRP), USDC (USDC), Solana (SOL) and other cryptocurrencies.
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DOJ credits Tether for its help
The DOJ credited Tether for its role in helping seize the stolen funds. The company assisted law enforcement in freezing and transferring the frozen assets.
In June, the federal agency also acknowledged Tether for helping seize about $225 million in USDT tied to a massive “pig butchering” scam that defrauded victims across several countries.
In an incident in May, the DOJ filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize over $24 million in crypto from Russian national Rustam Gallyamov, who was accused of developing the Qakbot malware.
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