New York AG Letitia James sues to recover $2.2M in stolen crypto after scammers duped residents with remote job offers, urging caution and fraud reporting.
In a recent work fraud, tech-savvy con artists took $2.2 million worth of cryptocurrency from people in New York. The criminals asked job searchers to put money into cryptocurrency accounts in text messages they sent, claiming to assist in finding remote work.
Letitia James, the attorney general of New York, claims that unwary victims were singled out to buy and deposit stablecoins into scammers’ accounts.
The Queens County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Office of the Attorney General looked into the case.
On Thursday, AG James filed a lawsuit to reclaim the missing cryptocurrency stored in digital wallets. She wants to recover frozen cryptocurrency for victims of fraud and demands that the con artists pay fines and compensation.
AG James stated, “It is cruel and unacceptable to deceive New Yorkers looking to work remotely and earn money to support their families.”
Residents who this scam has duped will have access to the cryptocurrency that my office has blocked. I encourage everyone in New York to report any fraud to my office and exercise caution when responding to texts from unknown senders who seem to offer jobs or other possibilities.
Scammers requested that victims buy USDT and USDC.
The scammers initially advised victims to purchase the USD Coin (USDC) and Tether (USDT) stablecoins. They were requested to make purchases through transparent channels on regulated and registered platforms such as Coinbase, Gemini, and Crypto.com.
The victims were then duped into transferring their cryptocurrency to digital wallets that were not hosted.
Investigations also revealed that this scam was active in several other jurisdictions. Scammers preyed on those in dire need of remote work.
The criminals allegedly offered victims cash and a commission in exchange for opening a cryptocurrency account, depositing bitcoin, and posting evaluations of phoney goods on websites that looked authentic. Additionally, the victims were told that these reviews would contribute to creating “market data” that would result in sales.
The victims received assurances that they were assisting in the “legitimization” of their created data rather than buying the products.
“In this instance, the criminals used cutting-edge technology to trick victims into making cryptocurrency deposits and then took millions of dollars in stablecoins,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.