US authorities have shut down 241 websites and seized 112 computer servers linked to an international cryptocurrency fraud network accused of stealing tens of millions of dollars from Americans.
According to an official release dated October 14, the operation, led by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Virtual Currency Unit and the FBI’s New York field office, targeted servers hosted by companies in the United States and Eastern Europe. Investigators said the network used the infrastructure to operate fraudulent investment websites, collect victims’ information, and communicate with potential targets.
The crackdown followed an investigation that began about three years ago. Many of the scams targeted Russian-speaking residents of Brooklyn and other parts of the United States, with some victims drawn in through Facebook advertisements promoting investment opportunities, according to the Brooklyn DA’s office.
Investigation traced fraud infrastructure to Eastern Europe
Investigators identified internet infrastructure and IP addresses in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries as part of the network’s operations. Brooklyn prosecutors executed search warrants across three time zones to disable the websites and seize the servers. The operation disrupted access to the data, victim information, and software used to maintain the fraudulent domains, the DA’s office said.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the office’s Virtual Currency Unit traced stolen cryptocurrency, identified suspects and helped secure the servers used by the network. James Barnacle, head of the FBI’s New York field office, said the agency worked with Brooklyn prosecutors on the investigation.
The authorities have not disclosed the identities of those responsible for operating the network or provided a breakdown of the cryptocurrency recovered during the latest operation.
Brooklyn unit previously seized 70 fraud domains
Gonzalez established the Virtual Currency Unit in 2023 to investigate cryptocurrency-related fraud. Led by Assistant District Attorney Alona Katz, the unit began pursuing the network after identifying a concentration of victims in Brooklyn’s Russian-speaking communities.
In June 2024, the unit seized 70 web domains linked to scams that allegedly took about $5 million from US residents. Excluding the latest operation, the office said it had seized or disrupted about 400 web domains associated with cryptocurrency investment fraud.
Prosecutors said the seizure of the servers could make it harder for the network to establish replacement websites or contact victims. Katz described the operation as a disruption of the infrastructure supporting the alleged fraud, rather than simply the removal of individual websites.
US agencies target other crypto fraud networks
The Brooklyn operation comes amid broader US efforts to disrupt cryptocurrency-related fraud and the financial networks supporting overseas scam operations.
In September, the Justice Department’s Scam Center Strike Force seized Telegram channels associated with Xinbi Guarantee, a Chinese-language marketplace accused of providing services to scam operations. The marketplace allegedly offered custom investment scam websites, money-laundering services, and assistance recruiting trafficking victims into scam compounds in Southeast Asia. Authorities also restrained about $52 million in cryptocurrency during the action, announced by US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro on September 9.
The Justice Department also filed civil forfeiture complaints on July 21 seeking to recover more than $25 million in cryptocurrency allegedly linked to five investigations involving fake investment platforms, romance scams and fraudulent asset-recovery services. Prosecutors said the funds had been moved through hundreds of blockchain addresses before being frozen. The department said the Scam Center Strike Force, launched in November 2025, had recovered more than $800 million in assets since its establishment.
International enforcement efforts have also targeted the financial infrastructure behind online fraud. In July, INTERPOL said Operation First Light 2026, which involved 97 countries, resulted in 5,811 arrests and the interception of nearly $293 million in illicit fiat and digital assets. The operation focused on social engineering schemes, including investment fraud, romance scams, and impersonation schemes, and identified more than 142,000 victims worldwide.
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