The US government is asking victims of a recently busted crypto fraud scheme to come forward to collect their lost money.

In a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia, officials say they have recovered and cleared the title to $7 million of investment fraud proceeds using civil asset forfeiture.

The Justice Department (DOJ) says that the government will now begin inviting the victims of the fraud to submit petitions to have those funds returned to them.

Citing court documents, the DOJ says it uncovered a fraud scheme in which perpetrators used social engineering to lure victims into investing in crypto assets using websites that mirror legitimate platforms.

“The social engineering involved the perpetrators getting to know the victims and earning their trust before introducing them to cryptocurrency investment ideas through the spoofed websites. These websites were set up to mimic legitimate cryptocurrency investment platforms, but funneled victim funds to the perpetrators through over 75 bank accounts in the names of shell companies.

The sites falsely represented to the victims that their investments were making sizeable gains. However, when victims would attempt to make withdrawals, the perpetrators would coerce the victims to send even more money using tactics such as claiming the victims owed taxes on their purported profits.”

The DOJ did not name any individual or organization involved in the case.

US authorities began seizing some of the investment fraud’s proceeds from a bank account set up with a foreign bank in June of 2023. The US subsequently filed a complaint with a District Court to start the civil forfeiture process against the seized funds.

The government ultimately reached a settlement, freeing up $7 million of the seized funds so it could be forfeited to the United States and given back to the victims.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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Banking giant JPMorgan Chase is reportedly denying a customer’s massive reimbursement claim.

Single mother Marisel Ballard says she lost $80,000 from her JPMorgan business account after thieves hacked into her social media setup, reports FOX San Antonio.

Ballard, who owns the Trustworthy Cleaning Service in Texas, says she linked her bank account to Facebook to run ads for her cleaning and maid service company.

She says the thieves cracked her Facebook account and gained access to her payment information, making unauthorized withdrawals totaling nearly $80,000 over the course of a few days.

Ballard says neither Facebook nor JPMorgan issued a warning about the suspicious activity on her accounts.

When the money was drained, Ballard thought JPMorgan would cover her losses.

But after months of waiting, Ballard says JPMorgan told her that she’s not getting any of her money back.

“We denied our customer’s claims because she was not able to provide us with any evidence these transactions were unauthorized.” 

Ballard says she feels Chase let her down.

“Yes a lot, thinking you’ve been a loyal client for more than 15 years, like that no, it was not fair.”

While waiting for JPMorgan to issue a final decision on her claim, Ballard says she had to take out a loan to cover her payroll. Trustworthy Cleaning Service has about 30 employees.

FOX asked Facebook for a comment on Ballard’s case, but the social media giant has not yet responded.

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Disclaimer: Opinions expressed at The Daily Hodl are not investment advice. Investors should do their due diligence before making any high-risk investments in Bitcoin, cryptocurrency or digital assets. Please be advised that your transfers and trades are at your own risk, and any losses you may incur are your responsibility. The Daily Hodl does not recommend the buying or selling of any cryptocurrencies or digital assets, nor is The Daily Hodl an investment advisor. Please note that The Daily Hodl participates in affiliate marketing.

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The UK government was founded by the blockchain analytics platform that held billions of dollars in Bitcoin in the past few years.

Arkham Intelligence, on the on-chain analytics data on Dec. 06, has found the wallet that is connected to the UK government that holds 61.245k Bitcoin (BTC) worth $6 billion. This wallet has also gained profit from the Bitcoin price movement, with more than $28 million in unrealised profit.

It is stated by Arkham that the Bitcoin owned by the UK government is a seized asset from Zhimin Qian, a fraudster with a multi-billion pound scam.

“The UK government now holds $6 billion USD of Bitcoin. They have been holding this for 3.5 Years after its seizure from Zhimin Qian in 2021,”

Arkham stated on X post

Although the last time this wallet was actively used was 3 months ago, the seized Bitcoin that they received only happened 3 years ago. The first time, they received 2,400 Bitcoins worth $93 million, and they got the same amount at a different transaction. In the last one, they received 19.200 Bitcoin worth $750 million.

UK government accused Zhimin Qian

Zhimin Qian, a Chinese nationality, defrauded 130,000 Chinese investors of $5.6 billion between 2014 and 2017. She was enlisted by Jian Wen, who had already been sentenced to 6 years in prison due to the money laundering plot.

Qian will face the trial in September next year at Southwark Crown Court, where a co-defendant, Seng Hok Ling, has also pleaded not guilty to related charges.