The United States Secret Service is expanding its global crackdown on cryptocurrency scams. Its Global Investigative Operations Center (GIOC) is working with law enforcement in over 60 countries to teach them how to track and stop digital fraud. Last month, they held a training session in Bermuda, a country known for its crypto-friendly laws.
The scams often begin with a classic, simple message and a friendly chat. Victims are lured to fake crypto investment websites that look real, with flashy charts, smooth design, and even customer support. After a few small profits, victims feel safe and invest more, often borrowing money. Then, the site stops responding, and the money disappears.
“That’s how they do it,” said Jamie Lam, a Secret Service investigative analyst. “They’ll send you a photo of a really good-looking guy or girl. But it’s probably some old guy in Russia.”
Using digital tools and a bit of patience, agents traced one fake site through its domain name, crypto wallet, and an IP address left behind by a VPN glitch. “It’s not always that hard,” Lam said. “Sometimes you just need patience.”
According to Bloomberg report, the GIOC doesn’t use guns or badges. Instead, they use spreadsheets, subpoenas, and open-source data. With these tools, the team has seized nearly $400 million in digital assets over the past decade, most of it held in one secure crypto wallet.
Kali Smith, the agency’s crypto strategy lead, says training is offered for free to countries with weak enforcement or popular residency-for-sale programs. “Sometimes after just a week-long training, they can be like, ‘Wow, we didn’t even realize that this is occurring in our country,’” Smith said during the Bermuda session.
In one case, an Idaho teenager was tricked into sending a nude photo and then blackmailed. The scammer demanded $300 or the image would be shared with the family. The teen paid twice before calling the police. GIOC tracked the payments, which passed through another teen used as a money mule and ended in a wallet with $4.1 million in crypto tied to a Nigerian passport. The suspect was arrested in England.
Crypto fraud now causes the biggest losses in U.S. online crime. In 2024, Americans lost $9.3 billion to crypto scams, with older adults losing $2.8 billion. Some cases turn violent. One man was tortured in New York for his wallet password. In another case, the parents of a teen hacker were kidnapped in Connecticut.
Companies like Coinbase and Tether have helped the Secret Service by freezing wallets and tracing funds. One recovery effort brought back $225 million in Tether connected to romance scams.
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