US authorities have initiated legal action to recover USD 40,300 in crypto linked to an email fraud scheme that impersonated a US presidential inaugural committee.
The funds were part of a larger sum, over USD 250,000 in USDT.ETH, fraudulently obtained from a potential donor by individuals posing as representatives of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.
The scam, which occurred in December 2024, involved a fraudulent email that closely mimicked the legitimate domain of the committee. The sender used a deceptive address in which the lowercase letter ‘l’ was substituted for an uppercase ‘I’, exploiting font similarities to mislead the recipient. The victim believed they were transferring funds to a legitimate cryptocurrency wallet connected to the committee but instead sent them to a wallet controlled by the perpetrators.
Within hours of the transaction, the funds were routed through multiple wallets. However, through blockchain analysis, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was able to track and recover a portion of the stolen amount. The US Attorney's Office has now filed a civil forfeiture complaint to reclaim the seized USD 40,353 in cryptocurrency and return it to the defrauded party.
Business email compromise is among the leading cyber threats
Officials from the FBI, which is investigating the case through its Washington Field Office, noted that impersonation and email compromise schemes continue to cause widespread financial losses. They advised the public to scrutinise sender addresses, website URLs, and message details carefully, particularly when dealing with unsolicited requests for money or asset transfers. Fraudsters often use near-identical addresses or domain names to deceive recipients.
A representative from the US Attorney’s Office emphasised the complexity of tracing blockchain-based transactions and recovering digital assets, urging individuals to exercise caution when sending cryptocurrency. Despite these challenges, law enforcement officials maintain that they will pursue recovery efforts where possible and seek to compensate victims.
The scam was traced to individuals based in Nigeria, with the imposter directing the donor to send funds to a wallet ending in ‘58c52.’ Following standard laundering techniques, the funds were quickly dispersed, but roughly USD 40,000 was ultimately frozen. Officials acknowledged cooperation from Tether in facilitating the asset transfer as part of the recovery process.
