DOJ Targets $5M Stolen Bitcoin in SIM Swap Crackdown Across U.S

The ￰2￱ of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to seize more than $5 million in Bitcoin allegedly stolen through SIM swap attacks that targeted victims across the ￰3￱ Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced the action, joined by Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew ￰4￱ of the Criminal Division and FBI Special Agent in Charge Brett ￰5￱ of the Miami Field ￰6￱ Funds from SIM Swap Scams Traced to Online Casino Wallets According to the complaint , the funds are directly traceable to cryptocurrency thefts from five victims whose wallets were compromised between October 29, 2022, and March 21, ￰7￱ perpetrators allegedly used SIM swapping, a technique that exploits weaknesses in mobile authentication systems to gain control of a victim’s phone ￰8￱ in control, the attackers intercepted two-factor authentication codes, posed as the victim, and transferred funds into accounts they ￰9￱ said that after each theft, the stolen assets were moved through several cryptocurrency wallets before being consolidated into one wallet that funded an account at Stake.

com, an online ￰10￱ allege that the perpetrators engaged in circular transactions, repeatedly moving Bitcoin in and out of accounts to disguise the source of ￰11￱ March 20 and March 22, 2023, the ￰12￱ account and a connected wallet allegedly conducted at least 32 such transactions, consistent with efforts to launder criminal ￰13￱ swapping has become a recurring threat in the cryptocurrency ￰14￱ this June, two users of the exchange OKX reported losses in a SIM swap hack that followed a fraudulent SMS notification claiming to be from the ￰15￱ to SlowMist founder Yu Xian, the attackers tricked victims into generating new API keys with withdrawal and trading permissions, allowing unauthorized ￰16￱ incident came only a week after cybercriminals used deepfake videos to target the exchange’s security ￰17￱ confirmed the hack in a statement on X, saying it had contacted the affected users and launched an ￰18￱ company pledged to take responsibility if it was found to be at fault and to publish findings when ￰19￱ exchange has not yet disclosed the amount stolen or the precise method of ￰20￱ incidents have hit the wider crypto ￰21￱ October 2023, ￰22￱ users suffered roughly $400,000 in losses from SIM swap scams, prompting the platform to add a two-factor password safeguard for customers.

A SIM swap attack occurs when fraudsters convince mobile carriers to transfer a victim’s phone number to a new SIM card under their ￰23￱ access to the number, hackers can intercept sensitive codes sent via text, bypassing protections on email, financial, and cryptocurrency ￰24￱ enforcement officials say the method has become a preferred tool for cybercriminals seeking to exploit gaps in mobile security for high-value digital ￰25￱ DOJ Crackdown on Crypto Crime Networks as Crypto Fraud Losses Surge 66% Year-on-Year Recently, the DOJ seized $225.3 million worth of Tether’s USDT , representing the largest cryptocurrency seizure tied to an alleged “pig butchering” investment ￰26￱ say the operation is part of a widening crackdown on crypto fraud that has already cost victims billions. @DOJCrimDiv seizes $225.3M in Tether’s USDT—largest crypto haul tied to pig butchering scam—funds traced via OKX in global fraud network. #CryptoFraud #USDT ￰0￱ — ￰27￱ (@cryptonews) June 18, 2025 According to the DOJ, investigators traced the funds through a series of blockchain transactions connecting them to an international confidence ￰28￱ stolen assets were laundered through the exchange OKX before being consolidated into wallets holding USDT.

Additionally, authorities say cryptocurrency fraud is rising at an alarming ￰29￱ FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported a 66% increase in losses from 2023 to ￰30￱ FBI estimates that more than $9.3 billion in crypto-related losses were reported in 2024, with $5.8 billion tied to fraudulent investment ￰31￱ were drawn in by what appeared to be legitimate crypto opportunities but ultimately lost savings to organized fraud ￰32￱ officials noted that they were older adults targeted ￰33￱ DOJ said the scale of losses “compounds the devastating impact” on people and ￰34￱ DOJ emphasized that the seizure is part of a wider push to disrupt transnational criminal groups exploiting digital ￰35￱ prosecutors announced guilty pleas in a $36 million laundering case linked to Cambodia-based scams and secured forfeitures in separate cases worth millions of ￰36￱ sanctions 19 Myanmar, Cambodia entities for crypto scams that defrauded Americans of over $10B through forced labor. #Crypto #Scam ￰1￱ — ￰37￱ (@cryptonews) September 9, 2025 Other recent DOJ crackdowns include charges against blockchain entrepreneur Jeremy Jordan-Jones, accused of defrauding investors of $1 million ; Russian national Rustam Gallyamov , allegedly behind the Qakbot malware and linked to $24 million in seized crypto; and Charles Parks III, sentenced for a $3.5 million “cryptojacking” ￰38￱ July, ￰39￱ filed a forfeiture complaint seeking $2.4 million in Bitcoin tied to the Chaos ransomware group .

Also, earlier this year, the DOJ seized $31 million from the Uranium Finance hack.