The funds in question are linked to two pig-butchering scams that defrauded an anonymous victim of over $1 million. In the first scam, the victim developed a romantic relationship with a scammer, Eva Markus, through Facebook and LinkedIn.
The victim was misled into believing that Markus was a diamond mine owner who needed funds to hire an attorney to return to America after a mine explosion. This led the victim to transfer over $400,000.
The unidentified individual entered into a second romantic relationship with someone named Lisa Warren on Facebook. Eventually, the victim was convinced to sell their home and invest the proceeds, resulting in a total of approximately $600,000 in crypto being sent.
After realizing they had fallen for a scam, the victim reported the incident to the police. Binance froze the funds and alerted the FBI, which seized them.
“The Defendant Property is currently in FBI custody and will be transferred to the United States Marshals Service in the District of Columbia,” according to the document. The FTC pointed out that scammers are adept at gaining the trust of individuals through deceptive cryptocurrency investments, leading victims to transfer funds before disappearing with the money.
These scams are global in nature and have a significant impact. Overall, scammers use fake profiles and the pretense of love and friendship to gain the trust of users, subsequently inducing them to send money for various reasons, including jobs and high-return investments, only to steal the money.