The Virtual Currency Unit (VCU) of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, in collaboration with the FBI, shut down 241 scam domains and 112 servers on October 14, 2026. This operation concluded a three-year investigation into an international crypto investment fraud network with links to Eastern Europe, specifically Ukraine.
The targeted schemes primarily focused on Russian-speaking communities in Brooklyn. Beyond initial investment fraud, the network operated recovery scams, targeting victims who had already lost funds. Investigators estimate the total losses from these specific operations to be in the tens of millions of dollars, though only $300,000 has been recovered so far.
The VCU, established in 2023, has blocked over 400 fraudulent domains to date. The unit employs blockchain tracing to monitor fund movements and coordinates with federal authorities to take servers offline. Assistant District Attorney Alona Katz is currently advocating for state legislation to improve the prosecution of such cross-border financial crimes.
According to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, total losses from crypto-related fraud in the United States reached $11.366 billion in 2025, a 22% increase from the previous year. Investment scams accounted for $7.228 billion of that total, representing more than half of all documented internet crime losses for the year.
