The U.S. Secret Service is reportedly launching a new campaign against crypto scams with a new team that specializes in digital financial crimes.
Bloomberg reports that the agency’s Global Investigative Operations Center (GIOC) uses software, subpoenas and spreadsheets to identify and go after criminals behind fraudulent crypto scams, including pig butchering operations that offer fake investments to victims.
Citing people familiar with the matter, Bloomberg says the GIOC has already seized nearly $400 million in digital assets over the last 10 years. The Secret Service itself is already one of the world’s biggest crypto custodians after leading crackdowns on digital currencies such as Liberty Reserve and E-Gold in the 1990s.
A team led by lawyer Kali Smith, who directs the Secret Service’s cryptocurrency strategy, is conducting workshops in different countries to train law enforcers and prosecutors to uncover digital crimes.
The agency provides the training for free and is particularly interested in jurisdictions where criminals take advantage of weak oversight or residency-for-sale programs.
Smith says fraudsters have several misconceptions about cryptocurrencies.
“They think they can use Bitcoin and be safe. But that isn’t the case.”
The Secret Service has also partnered with Coinbase and other industry insiders like stablecoin issuer Tether, which provided assistance in recent cases with trace analysis and wallet freezes.
Fraud involving cryptocurrencies now accounts for the majority of internet crime losses in the US. Last year, Americans reported $9.3 billion in crypto-related scams or more than half of the reported $16.6 billion.
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