An Ethereum [ETH] wallet holding roughly $2.12 million in USDT has been seized by the U.S. government through a civil in rem forfeiture lawsuit. The complaint claimed that the money came from a massive investment scam linked to a “pig-butchering” operation.
In a civil in rem action, the property is the target, instead of prosecutors charging an individual in a criminal case. In this case, 2,117,677.97 USDT held in the crypto wallet was the property.
How did the scammers operate?
As per the complaint, scammers used dating apps, WhatsApp, social media, and phony job offers to reach victims.
Later, they guided the victims to phony cryptocurrency investment platforms that promised guaranteed returns. These fake platforms showed fictitious profits to entice larger deposits.
Many victims, including one from Tennessee, were identified by investigators as having lost significant sums of money. This happened after the victim was tricked into paying extra tax or verification fees when they tried to withdraw their money.
Because the platforms were fraudulent and the stolen assets had already been transferred through intermediary crypto wallets, the withdrawals never took place.
Additionally, to hide the source of the stolen funds, the fraud network transferred them across multiple Ethereum wallets. Nonetheless, investigators were able to link the assets to an Ethereum wallet through blockchain analysis.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the USDT is subject to forfeiture under federal law as it represents the proceeds of wire fraud and money laundering. Since Tether issued the tokens, authorities worked with the company to freeze the USDT in the crypto wallet.
Crypto scams on the rise
The complaint also emphasized the wider increase in cryptocurrency investment fraud. That said, back in 2024, the FBI had received more than 41,000 complaints about losses totaling $5.8 billion.
Moreover, the crypto industry saw 207 hacking incidents in H1 2026. This was more than double the 85 hacks reported in the same period in 2025, according to TRM Labs. Notably, a rise in vulnerabilities across DeFi protocols was reflected in the 126 incidents that took place in Q2.
Final Summary
- The scammers used dating apps, WhatsApp, social media, and phony job offers to reach victims.
- The scammer even tried to hide the source of the stolen funds by transferring them between several Ethereum wallets.
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