Nazia Saeed
- DOJ recovers $40,300 in crypto stolen in phishing scam impersonating Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee
- FBI used blockchain tracing to recover funds after scammers laundered stolen USDT
- DOJ credits Tether for freezing stolen assets and aiding asset recovery
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has recovered over $40,000 in cryptocurrency tied to a phishing scam that impersonated officials from the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. The seizure followed a successful investigation by federal prosecutors and the FBI, with notable cooperation from the stablecoin issuer Tether.
According to a complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and a DOJ news release issued Wednesday, the scheme defrauded a donor into sending $250,300 worth of USDT (Tether) on the Ethereum blockchain to scammers posing as committee representatives.
Scammers used lookalike email to trick donor
The incident unfolded on December 24, 2024, when the victim received a fraudulent email claiming to be from Steve Witkoff, co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. The scammers cleverly spoofed the domain, using “@t47lnaugural.com”—a visually deceptive version of the real domain, swapping a lowercase “l” for an “i”to deceive the receiver.
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Believing the request was legitimate, the victim transferred over $250,000 in USDT two days later. The funds were quickly laundered across multiple wallets, a common tactic to obscure the transaction trail.
FBI traces and recovers portion of stolen crypto
Using blockchain analysis tools, the FBI was able to track the flow of stolen funds and recover $40,300 of the original amount. The recovered crypto assets were secured and prosecutors have filed a civil forfeiture complaint to return the funds to the victim.
This case comes amid a broader embrace of cryptocurrency by the Trump campaign. In May 2024, former President Donald Trump announced that his presidential campaign would accept crypto donations through Coinbase Commerce. Supported assets include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, XRP, Solana, and others.
Tether credited for asset freeze and seizure support
The DOJ publicly thanked Tether for its cooperation in the recovery process. The stablecoin issuer provided assistance in freezing the stolen USDT and facilitated the transfer of recovered assets to the appropriate authorities.
Tether has increasingly been involved in law enforcement operations. In June, the DOJ also credited the company for aiding in the seizure of $225 million linked to a global “pig butchering” scam. In another major case, the DOJ in May filed a civil complaint to seize $24 million in crypto from Russian national Rustam Gallyamov, accused of operating the Qakbot malware scheme.
