On March 24, according to Cointelegraph, the U.S. government is seeking to return $7 million to victims of social engineering fraud who were deceived into transferring money to fake cryptocurrency investment platforms.

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, the fraud case involved scammers first contacting victims and gaining their trust, then directing them to websites disguised as legitimate cryptocurrency investment platforms.

Once victims made deposits, funds were transferred through over 75 bank accounts nominally owned by shell companies, then transferred "deceptively" overseas, appearing to be domestic transfers, although the funds were actually moved to banks outside the United States. "When victims attempted to withdraw funds, criminals would force them to transfer money again by claiming victims 'needed to pay taxes on presumed earnings'."

The U.S. Secret Service seized part of the funds from a foreign bank in 2023 and initiated civil forfeiture proceedings by filing a lawsuit with the U.S. District Court. However, the bank also made claims to these funds, and the U.S. government ultimately reached an agreement to return $7 million of the seized funds to the victims.