Bloomberg sources claim that the US Secret Service Global Investigations and Operations Center’s (GIOC), has seized digital assets worth $400 million in the past few years.
The majority of assets of this agency are stored in one cold wallet. This makes it the largest cold wallet in the entire world.
These assets were accumulated by the agency as a result a number of investigations. GIOC experts tracked these funds by using tools from open sources, analysis of blockchains, and many other methods.
Digital currency fraud is responsible for a significant part of the internet crimes in America. Cryptocurrencies will cost Americans $9.3 billion in 2024. This is more than half the $16.6 billion total.
The elderly are responsible for a large portion of losses, as they lost $2.8 billion mostly through bogus websites.
These schemes lure victims with promises of lucrative cryptocurrency investments via online communication. First deposits yield a modest, but consistent income. The platform will close and the balances of clients who increase their investment, usually with borrowed money, disappear when they do.
This scheme is linked to the largest seizure of Tether (USDT), stablecoins, in GIOC’s history. More than $225 Million in USDT was seized.
After exploiting a temporary VPN error, investigators from the agency were able to identify a domain registered by scammers in one case.
Another case involved an Idaho teenager being blackmailed by an unidentified person who threatened to send a private photo to the family. He paid $300 two times before calling the police.
GIOC experts reconstructed an extortion based on blockchain data, receipts and screenshots. They also used a dummy payee. They traced a Nigerian account that had processed 6,000 transactions totaling nearly $4 million. UK Police apprehended the suspect upon his arrival in United Kingdom.
Bloomberg reports that GIOC depends on partners from the crypto-industry to help recover digital assets. Coinbase and Tether confirmed publicly that they assisted the agency with several cases in recent times, including providing information and freezing wallets.
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