Prosecutors seek forfeiture of $327K in Tether after alleged dating app crypto fraud

The U.S. Attorney's Office is looking to seize $327,829 worth of Tether after prosecutors say a person in Massachusetts was duped after sending funds to a "Linda Brown" on a dating app. 

On Monday, federal prosecutors in Boston filed a civil forfeiture action to recover 327,829.720952 USDT, according to a statement. The investigation began in the fall of 2024, when authorities started looking into what they described as an "online romance fraud scheme."

After several weeks of talking with a resident from Massachusetts, Brown told them she had an investment opportunity involving crypto, prosecutors said.

"Under the guise of legitimately investing the victim’s money, Brown instead tricked the victim into sending funds to wallets controlled by Brown and/or their co-conspirators," the attorney's office said. "The victim found out that the investment was a scam when they unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw their money."

Authorities say the stolen funds were transferred through multiple cryptocurrency wallets, converted into USDT, and ultimately used in money-laundering transactions.

The latest statement comes amid heightened warnings about romance-related crypto scams. Ahead of Valentine's Day on Feb. 14, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Ohio issued a warning to consumers about romance scams tied to crypto payments and fraudulent investment schemes in a statement titled "Cupid Doesn't Ask for Crypto." Prosecutors said criminals use social media platforms and messaging apps to build relationships and then ask for money. 

So-called "pig butchering" scams — a term commonly used to describe long-running romance-investment fraud schemes — have been on federal authorities’ radar for years. The Federal Trade Commission has previously reported more than $1 billion in romance scam losses in a single year, while the FBI has identified crypto-linked investment fraud as its largest loss category.