Brooklyn prosecutors, in collaboration with the FBI, dismantled the infrastructure of a multinational crypto investment scam. The operation, which targeted Russian-speaking individuals in the U.S., involved the seizure of 112 servers and 241 web domains. The investigation into this fraudulent network spanned three years.
The scammers utilized Facebook advertisements in Russian to attract victims, directing them to investment platforms. Victims were coached to purchase cryptocurrency and transfer it to specific addresses. When attempting to withdraw funds, users were blocked or pressured to pay additional fees. The group also operated a secondary recovery scam to target previous victims.
The seized servers were hosted by companies in the U.S. and Eastern Europe, with infrastructure located in Ukraine and other regional countries. Prior to this action, authorities had already disrupted 400 related domains. Prosecutors estimate the total losses at tens of millions of dollars, with $300,000 recovered to date.
This enforcement action follows another recent case in Brooklyn, where a defendant was sentenced to 12 years in prison for stealing $16 million from nearly 100 Coinbase users via phishing. The District Attorney's office continues to work on recovering further assets from the latest dismantled scheme.
