"47 million dollars in cryptocurrency assets have been haltered by digital finance entities due to alleged schemes involving romantic enticement"
In a significant move against cybercrime, cryptocurrency companies Binance, OKX, and Tether have joined forces to seize nearly $50 million stolen via romance baiting scams.
According to data from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis, online marketplaces like Huione Guarantee have processed over $49 billion in cryptocurrency transactions since 2021. In 2024, the firm reported a 40% year-on-year (YoY) increase in associated losses from romance baiting scams, accounting for a third of total crypto fraud revenue.
These campaigns typically combine romance and investment fraud, targeting vulnerable individuals on dating sites and grooming them for investment scams. The number of deposits to romance baiting scammers increased 210% YoY in 2024, according to Chainalysis.
The scammers then sent the proceeds to a consolidation wallet which transferred $46.9 million in USDT (Tether) to a collection of three intermediary addresses. It was these funds that Tether, with the technical ability to freeze known illicit funds, froze at the direction of an APAC law enforcement agency in June 2024.
Tether's CEO, Paolo Ardoino, stated a dedication to working with law enforcement agencies worldwide to freeze funds associated with pig butchering scams and all manner of illicit activity. This commitment was evident in November 2023, when Tether and OKX collaborated with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) to freeze around $225 million in USDT linked to an international human trafficking syndicate in Southeast Asia responsible for romance scams.
The seizure of these funds follows an announcement by US authorities and TRM Labs in March, where $8.2 million headed for romance baiting scammers was seized. Chainalysis used its investigative tools to identify several wallets associated with a romance baiting operation based in Southeast Asia. The funds then moved to five different wallets before being frozen by Tether.
The Hong Kong Police Force had also requested the frozen Tether funds in June 2024. As the fight against cybercrime continues, these collaborative efforts demonstrate a promising step towards protecting vulnerable individuals and disrupting the activities of scammers using cryptocurrency.
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