DoJ Seizes $61 Million in Tether Tied to Pig-Butchering Crypto Scams
The U.S. Department of Justice this week disclosed that authorities have taken control of $61 million worth of Tether tokens believed to be connected to large-scale “pig butchering” cryptocurrency frauds. Officials said the frozen assets were routed through wallet addresses the department linked to laundering proceeds stolen from victims of investment scams.
Investigators explained that the seized tokens were found on cryptocurrency addresses used to conceal and move money stolen through fraudulent trading and investment schemes. According to law enforcement, tracing those flows helped build the case against the networks running the scams.
HSI Charlotte’s acting special agent in charge, Kyle D. Burns, emphasized that cyber-driven fraud and professional money launderers exploit online platforms to steal from people and hide the cash. He noted that HSI agents are actively following illicit proceeds across borders to disrupt transnational groups that target American consumers.
Authorities described a familiar playbook behind these operations: perpetrators often cultivate romantic or friendly relationships through dating sites and social messaging apps to gain victims’ trust. Many of the scammers are reportedly housed in so-called scam compounds primarily in Southeast Asia, where they were recruited with promises of lucrative employment. Once at those facilities, their passports are seized and they are forced to impersonate attractive strangers or pretend to be investment brokers on bogus trading platforms - with threats of violence if they refuse.
The fake investment sites used by operators display invented portfolios and unrealistically high returns to coax users into pouring in more money. When victims try to withdraw funds, they are hit with fabricated “fees” or other demands designed to extract additional payments instead of returning any funds.
Law enforcement added that, after victims’ funds arrived in wallets controlled by the scammers, the criminals rapidly moved the assets through numerous other addresses to obscure the funds’ origin, ownership and control - a classic money-laundering technique intended to frustrate tracing efforts.
In a related statement, Tether said it has frozen roughly $4.2 billion in tokens it believes are associated with illicit activity overall, and that nearly $250 million of those freezes are connected to scam networks since June 2025 alone.