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cryptotimes.io
· 2026-10-03
A blockchain investigator publicly questioned whether UPay, a crypto payment card provider, had allowed a sanctioned criminal marketplace called Xinbi to white-label its Visa crypto card, citing Xinbi's use for pig butchering scams, fraud, and money laundering. UPay's CEO announced the company opened an internal investigation but did not confirm or deny any relationship with Xinbi, which the US Treasury designated as a significant transnational criminal organization in September 2026 with over $36 billion in throughput since 2022. The investigation's scope and findings remain unclear, with no confirmation yet that Xinbi actually issued or launched cards through UPay.
eu.36kr.com
· 2026-10-03
AI-powered pig-butchering scams are rapidly scaling through the use of artificial personas on dating apps, with a Chinese app studio deploying over 4,700 AI-driven profiles to interact with at least 25,000 users who purchase credits to communicate. These scams combine AI technology for relationship-building with real people for critical trust-building moments, and Chinese authorities have cracked over 300 AI fraud cases involving face-swapping and voice cloning that exceeded 500 million yuan in losses, with individual cases reaching up to 20 million yuan.
thesun.co.uk
· 2026-10-03
A 49-year-old school worker from Wiltshire was scammed out of £33,000 by someone impersonating Hollywood actor Bradley Cooper on a fake Facebook page over the course of two years. The scammer built an emotional connection, initially requesting money for a trip to Paris and eventually claiming he needed funds for various emergencies, before the victim realized the deception when the fake Bradley failed to show up for a planned Center Parcs trip three days before Christmas. This case is part of a rising trend of celebrity romance scams, with police reporting a 29% increase since 2024, with other victims losing even larger sums after being conned by scammers impersonating Brad Pitt
wrnjradio.com
· 2026-10-03
Manaseh Mintah, 43, of Massachusetts, was convicted of laundering approximately $1.2 million stolen from romance scam victims across the United States through bank accounts and a shell company called Dazionking LLC. He was found guilty of money laundering conspiracy, three counts of money laundering, and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, with sentencing scheduled for March 2027. Romance scams particularly targeted vulnerable and older Americans who lost their life savings to the scheme.
crypto.news
· 2026-10-03
Greek police arrested 17 people, including nine military personnel, for operating a cryptocurrency investment pyramid scheme that defrauded at least 10,000 participants of over $8 million since 2025. The operation used fake online platforms across multiple Greek cities to promise guaranteed high returns and double investments within 50 days, while failing to return deposited funds. Police seized €295,090 in cash along with computers and mobile devices during raids on five offices.
bankingjournal.aba.com
· 2026-10-03
This article is a promotional piece about Kitboga, a YouTube content creator with nearly 4 million subscribers who exposes scam tactics by engaging scammers in humorous phone calls to waste their time and disrupt their schemes. Kitboga is featured in an ABA Fraudcast episode and co-founded the National Fraud and Exploitation Intelligence Network, contributing to fraud awareness and prevention efforts. The article does not describe a specific scam incident or financial losses, but rather highlights educational resources and anti-fraud initiatives by the American Bankers Association.
oag.ca.gov
· 2026-10-03
California's SB 1208 signed into law gives law enforcement new tools to return stolen cryptocurrency to fraud victims by allowing seizure of digital assets under search warrants and distribution to victims when perpetrators are beyond U.S. jurisdiction. Cryptocurrency scams in California resulted in over $3.67 billion in reported losses in 2025 alone, with nationwide losses estimated at $75 billion from 2021-2024. The law addresses the challenge that victims often cannot trace laundered assets themselves when funds are commingled across multiple accounts and transfers in organized fraud schemes.
hoodline.com
· 2026-10-02
A 25-year-old Indian national pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud after collecting $137,458 in gold bars from an 80-year-old Kaneohe woman who was tricked by fake Apple and U.S. Marshal scam calls into liquidating her IRA. The victim was caught in a controlled sting operation by federal agents who used prop gold to arrest the courier, who earned $25,000-$30,000 per ten pickups for an international fraud ring orchestrated from Gujarat, India. The case is part of a broader pattern targeting elderly victims, with similar schemes operating across multiple states through WhatsApp-coordinated courier networks.
en.sedaily.com
· 2026-10-01
Seoul's Joint Government Investigation Unit on Voice Phishing Crime booked 1,381 people and recovered approximately $25 million in criminal proceeds over its four-year operation ending in 2024, while investigating organized remote fraud schemes including voice phishing, smishing, romance scams, and investment schemes. The unit achieved a 43% reduction in voice phishing damages between October 2024 and July 2025 through enhanced government response, and uncovered major criminal networks including a Cambodia-based organization and a money laundering ring that processed $1 billion in illicit funds. The unit also secured regulatory changes including limiting mobile phone subscriptions to three lines per person and implementing an emergency call-blocking system that has
helpnetsecurity.com
· 2026-10-01
Employment scams more than tripled at 370+ financial institutions across 21 countries in the past 12 months, with a 258% increase outpacing all other fraud types. The scams predominantly occur on mobile devices and include various types such as investment schemes (averaging $6,600 per case), purchase fraud, and romance scams, with researchers identifying specific behavioral patterns like active phone calls and unusual payment recipients that banks can use to detect and prevent losses. The article also highlights organized scam operations globally, including compounds in Nigeria, and a particularly severe variant targeting minors through financial sextortion that has resulted in at least 36 documented U.S. teen suicides since 2021.
financefeeds.com
· 2026-10-01
Attempted banking scams rose 35% across 370+ financial institutions serving 760 million users, with mobile devices accounting for 90% of scam sessions, according to BioCatch's 2026 report. Investment scams showed the highest average attempted value at $6,600, while employment scams saw the fastest growth at 258% year-over-year, and romance scams increased 23%. The concentrated use of mobile devices for scams reflects how criminals manipulate victims through the same communication channels used for authentication and payment approval, with investment schemes presenting particular risk due to their higher per-case financial exposure.
singaporelawwatch.sg
· 2026-10-01
Singapore's scam losses fell 17.9% to S$410.6 million in the first half of 2026, continuing a positive trend from 2025, though prevention efforts have reached their limits as 80.8% of scams involve victims voluntarily transferring their own money. The article argues that future anti-scam efforts must focus downstream on tracing and recovering stolen funds as they move through cryptocurrency and cross-border financial networks, where Singapore's Anti-Scam Command recovered S$22.8 million in cryptocurrency in 2025. Private financial institutions and compliance teams are urged to invest in blockchain intelligence and cross-border tracing capabilities to track illicit proceeds through the regional scam economy
scworld.com
· 2026-09-30
A Vietnamese national was charged with money laundering for his role in a "pig butchering" scam that defrauded a victim of $16 million in cryptocurrency through a fake investment platform called "Triangle." The suspect's cryptocurrency wallets received over $53 million between 2018 and 2024, with at least $24 million linked to pig butchering schemes where fraudsters build trust with victims online before luring them into fraudulent investments. The suspect allegedly transferred the stolen funds to private wallets to obscure their origins as part of a larger wire fraud scheme involving over $125 million in cryptocurrency.
scientificamerican.com
· 2026-09-30
Six men were extradited from South Africa for their involvement in a romance scam ring that defrauded over 100 U.S. women of more than $6 million by crafting elaborate fake romantic relationships. Researchers warn that artificial intelligence is making these scams increasingly difficult to detect and easier for criminals to scale up their operations. The scams exploit the normalcy of online dating to build trust with victims before extracting money through various schemes.
saltwire.com
· 2026-09-30
An 80-year-old Nova Scotia woman lost $10,000 to a sophisticated phone scam that began with a false claim her bank card was compromised and involved drugs and money laundering charges. The scammers impersonated CSIS and police, keeping her on the phone while directing her to withdraw cash and deposit it into Bitcoin machines at local stores in two separate transactions. Despite warnings from a store clerk and visits from actual police officers, she only realized the fraud when a scammer impersonated a local officer with a spoofed number and she confirmed with real police that the name and rank were fake.
newsantaana.com
· 2026-09-29
An elderly Connecticut man lost $8,600 in a mail-based fraud scheme targeting seniors, but Fountain Valley Police recovered his funds along with an additional $46,000 from other victims when they arrested a suspect at a local address. The incident is part of a broader surge in elder fraud across Orange County, where reports have risen over 30% in three years, with scammers using mail schemes, spoofed calls, and local "money mules" to target older adults. Federal estimates show elder fraud causes over $3.1 billion in annual losses nationally, though experts believe the actual figure reaches $8-10 billion when accounting for unreported cases.
bleepingcomputer.com
· 2026-09-29
A Vietnamese national was charged with money laundering for operating a "pig butchering" cryptocurrency scam that defrauded victims of at least $16 million, with his crypto wallets receiving over $53 million from fraud schemes between February 2018 and December 2024. The 37-year-old suspect was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on September 24 after entering the U.S. through the California-Mexico border. Victims were lured through fake investment platforms with promises of high returns, then unable to withdraw their funds after transfers were moved to private wallets under the scammer's control.
fincrimecentral.com
· 2026-09-29
A 26-year-old man was sentenced to seven years and ten months for participating in a $10 million real estate fraud scheme that operated in 2021-2022, where conspirators used fake identities and fabricated documents to sell properties they had no authority to convey to unsuspecting buyers. The fraudsters laundered the stolen proceeds through Las Vegas casinos by depositing large amounts into gaming machines and cashing out after minimal or no play, with some funds subsequently used to purchase additional properties. The defendant pleaded guilty to wire fraud, money laundering, and aggravated identity theft charges.
cryptorank.io
· 2026-09-29
Myanmar-based scam compounds in border areas like Myawaddy and Shwe Kokko operate organized cybercrime networks that use fake tech job recruitment to traffic victims into conducting investment, romance, and cryptocurrency scams targeting people worldwide, including Indian citizens. Stolen funds are laundered through mule accounts and cryptocurrency platforms, creating significant money-laundering and anti-money-laundering risks while perpetuating UN-documented human trafficking in the region. Indian nationals are affected both as scam victims and as trafficked individuals forced to participate in these criminal operations.
chinadailyasia.com
· 2026-09-29
A 71-year-old Hong Kong woman lost HK$2.9 million in an online romance scam where a man posing as a power company employee befriended her on Facebook, gained her trust through romantic attention, and then lured her into a fraudulent waste recycling investment scheme. After she was unable to withdraw funds, the scammer claimed he had been arrested and needed bail money, and instructed her to make cryptocurrency transfers, ultimately depleting her savings and forcing her to borrow from friends and a finance company across 17 transactions. The scam was discovered when debt collectors contacted her and she asked her daughter for money.
thestandard.com.hk
· 2026-09-29
A 71-year-old retired woman in Hong Kong lost HK$2.9 million to a romance scam after a man posing as a power company employee on Facebook gained her trust and convinced her to invest in a fake waste-recycling project through a fraudulent app. The scammer then claimed to be arrested and requested bail money, pressuring the victim to drain her savings and borrow from friends and financial companies across 17 transactions. This case was one of at least 18 romance scams reported to police in a single week, with total losses reaching HK$7.8 million.
punchng.com
· 2026-09-29
A Nigerian federal court ordered the permanent forfeiture of 431 mobile phones to the government that were seized from Chinese cyber-fraud operators and their accomplices. The phones were part of an elaborate international scam network operating in Lagos that conducted romance scams, cryptocurrency fraud, and investment swindles targeting victims in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Europe, with over N3.4 billion in fraud proceeds traced to the operation. A massive December 2024 sting operation arrested over 700 suspects involved in the scheme, including 148 Chinese nationals and 500 Nigerians, leading to convictions of the ringleader and his company on charges including cyber-terrorism and money laundering
shockya.com
· 2026-09-28
FinCEN identified nearly $13 billion in illicit activity tied to a new China-linked money-laundering scheme that uses digital-asset guarantee marketplaces on Telegram to funnel drug trafficking, human trafficking, and cyber-fraud proceeds into U.S. banks by mimicking Mexican peso-credit structures. The overlay, exemplified by networks like the sanctioned Xinbi platform (which facilitated over $24 billion in illicit activity before relocating to Singapore), exploits regulatory gaps in AML oversight of cryptocurrency and cross-border transactions to move cartel cash through U.S. financial institutions with minimal detection. Major U.S. banks including JPMorgan and Citigroup have processed
incrypted.com
· 2026-09-28
A 37-year-old Vietnamese national has been charged with money laundering in connection with a $53 million pig butchering cryptocurrency scheme that defrauded U.S. citizens from February 2018 to December 2024. The scam involved perpetrators meeting victims online, building trust, and directing them to fake investment platforms like "Triangle" where they were shown fictitious profits and prevented from withdrawing funds. One victim alone lost $16 million, with investigators tracing over $569,000 directly to the defendant's cryptocurrency wallet before he transferred the funds to anonymous accounts.
kttn.com
· 2026-09-28
A Vietnamese national, Trung Nguyen Van, faces federal money laundering charges for his alleged role in a "pig butchering" cryptocurrency fraud scheme that defrauded victims of millions of dollars. One victim alone transferred approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency between June and August 2024 after being deceived into believing funds were being invested through a platform called "Triangle," with investigators tracing over $53 million in cryptocurrency assets connected to wire fraud schemes targeting U.S. citizens passing through Van's wallets. Pig butchering scams typically begin with romance-focused contact through dating apps or social media, where scammers build trust before directing victims toward fraudulent cryptocurrency investment opportunities that appear profitable initially
fincrimecentral.com
· 2026-09-28
Vietnamese national Trung Nguyen Van, 37, was charged with money laundering in connection with a "pig butchering" cryptocurrency investment scam that defrauded a victim of approximately $16 million between June and August 2024. Prosecutors allege Van received and laundered portions of victim funds through cryptocurrency wallets attributed to him, and attribute approximately $53.3 million in total receipts from schemes targeting U.S. citizens to wallets linked to him over nearly seven years. The scam involved building trust with victims through dating and social media before directing them to fake investment platforms where they could not withdraw their funds.
hindustantimes.com
· 2026-09-28
Romance scams are confidence tricks where criminals build emotional trust through fake online profiles over weeks or months, then request money after establishing dependence. These scams occur across dating apps and social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn, targeting vulnerable individuals experiencing life changes such as divorce or loneliness, as well as financially literate professionals. Warning signs include constant messaging, avoidance of video calls, requests to move conversations to private channels, and elaborate excuses for why they cannot meet in person.
modernghana.com
· 2026-09-28
Ghanaian socialite Frederick Kumi (Abu Trica) has allegedly provided US investigators with eight names of people linked to laundering proceeds from a romance scam targeting over 80 elderly Americans of more than $8 million since 2023, though the claim remains unverified and disputed by his associates. Kumi was arrested in Ghana in December 2025 and extradited to face federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, with prosecutors alleging he and co-defendant Daniel Yussif used AI-driven video tools and fake personas to defraud victims. The broader investigation involves at least five Ghanaians accused of defrauding over 130
guardian.ng
· 2026-09-28
Access Bank launched a financial crime awareness campaign called "Spot the Scam" targeting Nigerian students to educate them on identifying and avoiding fraud schemes, which commonly include fake giveaways, job offers, celebrity impersonation, and investment scams. The campaign, running through December 2026, was prompted by concerns about young Nigerians' involvement in financial crimes, including a December 2024 incident where 792 young people were arrested for romance scams, hacking, and money laundering targeting overseas victims. The initiative includes nationwide financial education and a debate competition for secondary schools in Lagos State to help young people avoid becoming victims or perpetrators of financial crimes.
the420.in
· 2026-09-27
Global financial fraud losses reached approximately $442 billion in the last year, with organized criminal syndicates operating from Southeast Asia (particularly Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar) conducting sophisticated romance scams, cryptocurrency investment fraud, and other online financial crimes targeting victims worldwide. Interpol warns that these operations have evolved from regional networks into international criminal organizations employing thousands of people, causing not only massive financial losses but also leading victims to take their own lives and forcing businesses to close. The complexity of cross-border operations, use of cryptocurrency and digital platforms, and involvement of well-financed criminal networks have made enforcement efforts increasingly difficult for authorities.
malaymail.com
· 2026-09-27
Interpol warns that online romance and investment fraud linked to organized syndicates are draining billions from Asian economies, with global financial fraud losses estimated at $442 billion annually. Criminal networks operating from Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar employ thousands to perpetrate scams including cryptocurrency investment fraud and romance scams via social media and dating apps, with Interpol's Operation Haechi uncovering $342 million in illicit funds and blocking 68,000 bank accounts across 40 countries.
thestar.com.my
· 2026-09-27
An elderly woman in her 60s lost over RM750,000 in savings to scammers who posed as Singapore permanent residency agents, luring her with a fake S$300 professional fee and then demanding continuous payments over months of fraudulent transactions. In a separate case, a retiree in his 70s lost more than RM850,000 in a phone scam where callers impersonated police and Bank Negara officials, convincing him to transfer his life savings to accounts they controlled. Both victims fell prey to elaborate fraud schemes that exploited their trust and resulted in significant financial losses.
thestar.com.my
· 2026-09-27
Interpol warns that online financial fraud and romance scams linked to organized criminal syndicates are threatening Asian economies, with millions of dollars lost daily worldwide. Criminal networks operating from Southeast Asian countries like Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar use social media and dating apps to defraud vulnerable victims globally, with Interpol's 2023 assessment estimating US$442 billion in worldwide financial fraud losses annually. Operation Haechi (April-August 2023) uncovered US$342 million in illicit funds and blocked 68,000 bank accounts across 40 countries, targeting investment fraud, romance scams, voice phishing, and money laundering schemes.
vietnam.vn
· 2026-09-27
Cambodian businessman Chen Zhi, founder of Prince Group, has been indicted by the US Department of Justice for operating forced labor camps in Cambodia that conducted "pig butchering" cryptocurrency investment scams, defrauding billions of dollars from victims worldwide. The scheme involved contacting victims via text and social media with false investment promises, stealing their cryptocurrency, and laundering proceeds through gambling and crypto mining. Federal prosecutors are simultaneously seeking to seize approximately 127,271 Bitcoin (valued at $15 billion) as illicit gains—the largest asset seizure in DOJ history—with Chen currently at large.
cryptorank.io
· 2026-09-27
A 37-year-old Vietnamese national, Trung Nguyen Van, has been charged with money laundering after wallets linked to him received approximately $53.3 million from "pig butchering" cryptocurrency scams, including one U.S. victim who lost roughly $16 million in summer 2024. Pig butchering schemes involve scammers building trust with victims over time before directing them to fake investment platforms, with cryptocurrency enabling rapid cross-border fund transfers that leave blockchain traces helpful for investigation but difficult for recovery. The case demonstrates how crypto fraud networks have become increasingly industrialized, though blockchain records can provide investigators with transaction trails even as funds move through multiple wallets and exchanges before authorities interv
crowdfundinsider.com
· 2026-09-26
A Vietnamese national, Trung Nguyen Van, has been charged with money laundering for allegedly moving over $53 million in stolen cryptocurrency from pig-butchering romance scams between February 2018 and December 2024. In one documented case, a victim lost approximately $16 million after being lured to a fake investment platform called "Triangle," with Van accused of quickly funneling nearly $568,000 of those proceeds into private, untraceable wallets. The case highlights how cryptocurrency enables rapid movement of stolen funds outside regulated exchanges, making recovery difficult for victims who have lost billions globally to this increasingly sophisticated fraud scheme.
news.bitcoin.com
· 2026-09-26
A Vietnamese national was charged with money laundering in connection with a "pig butchering" cryptocurrency scam that defrauded one victim of approximately $16 million between June and August 2024, with investigators tracing transfers through his digital wallets. The suspect's accounts received an estimated $53.3 million in cryptocurrency tied to wire fraud schemes targeting Americans between February 2018 and December 2024, which was then moved off the blockchain to conceal its origin. Pig butchering schemes manipulate victims by establishing fake romantic relationships online before directing them to fraudulent crypto investment platforms where they are encouraged to deposit increasingly larger sums based on fabricated returns.
cryptonews.net
· 2026-09-26
Vietnamese national Trung Nguyen Van was charged with laundering approximately $53 million in cryptocurrency stolen from U.S. victims through romance scams between February 2018 and December 2024. The scams typically began on dating apps, social media, or text messages, with fraudsters gaining victims' trust before directing them to fake investment platforms like "Triangle" that displayed fabricated profits to encourage additional deposits. One Missouri victim alone lost about $16 million between June and August 2024, with investigators tracing Van's movement of stolen funds through various cryptocurrency wallets to conceal their illegal origins.
tradingview.com
· 2026-09-26
A 37-year-old Vietnamese national, Trung Nguyen Van, has been charged with money laundering after cryptocurrency wallets under his control received over $53 million linked to "pig butchering" scams, where fraudsters cultivate relationships with victims before directing them to fake investment platforms. One victim alone lost approximately $16 million after being deceived into transferring crypto through a fraudulent platform called Triangle. The case demonstrates how cryptocurrency enables rapid cross-border movement of fraud proceeds while simultaneously leaving blockchain records that investigators can use to trace the illicit funds.
kucoin.com
· 2026-09-26
This article does not contain information about elder fraud, scams, or fraudulent activities. It discusses U.S. Treasury yields, Federal Reserve policy, cryptocurrency prices, and bond market trends. As it falls outside the scope of elder fraud research, no summary is applicable.
cryptonews.net
· 2026-09-26
Vietnamese national Trung Nguyen Van, 37, was charged with money laundering after allegedly orchestrating a "pig butchering" romance scam that defrauded victims of approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency between June and August 2024, with investigators identifying over $53.3 million flowing through his wallets between 2018 and 2024 from wire fraud schemes targeting Americans. In the primary case, a victim was lured into a fake crypto investment platform called "Triangle" through an online relationship and wired $16 million in cryptocurrency after being shown fabricated returns. Van allegedly received over $569,000 from a single victim transfer and subsequently moved the funds through multiple wallets
aol.com
· 2026-09-25
A 70-year-old Michigan woman lost over $270,000 after a scammer impersonating an FTC agent threatened her with arrest for money laundering and drug trafficking. Believing the false charges, she initially purchased gold and later cashed out her own and her late husband's pension accounts to pay the fraudster, who was eventually arrested after she reported the crime to police. This case exemplifies a common government impersonation scam targeting seniors, who collectively lost $7.7 billion to fraud in 2025.
kctv5.com
· 2026-09-25
A Vietnamese national was charged with money laundering in connection with a $53 million "pig butchering" cryptocurrency scam that targeted Americans through fake romance schemes on dating apps and social media. In these frauds, scammers build trust with victims and then direct them to fraudulent cryptocurrency platforms displaying fake profits to coerce larger deposits that cannot be withdrawn. Federal authorities disrupted the international operation involving multiple jurisdictions to prevent further losses.
itweb.africa
· 2026-09-25
Cryptocurrency-enabled financial crimes in Africa are moving faster than law enforcement can respond, with illicit funds crossing borders in minutes while legal processes take months, according to Chainalysis data showing $17 billion stolen through crypto scams in 2025. Criminal networks are using shared infrastructure across multiple jurisdictions to launder proceeds from romance scams, investment fraud, trafficking, and other crimes, with AI-enhanced scams proving 4.5 times more profitable than traditional fraud. African agencies are urged to implement real-time fraud detection systems and increase cross-border cooperation, as demonstrated by a Ghana case where coordinated international effort froze approximately $15.1 million in illicit crypto assets.
abc.net.au
· 2026-09-25
Cambodia's multi-billion-dollar online scam industry persists despite government crackdowns, as evidenced by analysis of nearly 5,000 job advertisements posted on Telegram recruiting workers for scam operations between April 2023 and July 2024. The ads, posted in multiple languages, offered various roles including "victim finders" ($600/month), romance scam "models" (up to $12,000/month for those with "Western" or "Japanese" features), and money launderers, with some explicitly targeting victims in the US, Europe, Australia, and other countries. While Cambodia's government claims to have successfully dismantled scam compounds through raids in 2025, the persistence
crypto-economy.com
· 2026-09-25
A 37-year-old Vietnamese national, Trung Nguyen Van, faces federal money laundering charges for his alleged role in a "pig butchering" cryptocurrency scam that defrauded a victim of $16 million in summer 2024. The scheme involved fraudulent investment platforms like "Triangle" that displayed fake account balances and capital gains to lure victims into depositing funds, then blocked withdrawal access. FBI investigators linked Van's wallets to approximately $53.28 million in wire fraud losses collected between February 2018 and December 2024, indicating involvement in a transnational criminal network based in Southeast Asia targeting multiple victims.
cryptotimes.io
· 2026-09-25
A 37-year-old Vietnamese man, Trung Nguyen Van, was charged with money laundering for his alleged role in a cryptocurrency pig-butchering scam that defrauded at least one victim of approximately $16 million between June and August 2024. Investigators traced the victim's funds through multiple crypto wallets and found that Van's accounts received about $53.28 million in cryptocurrency connected to wire fraud schemes targeting U.S. citizens from February 2018 to December 2024. Pig-butchering scams typically begin with online contact through dating apps or social media, where scammers build trust before directing victims to fake investment platforms that prevent withdrawal of funds
cryptorank.io
· 2026-09-25
Vietnamese national Trung Nguyen Van was charged by federal prosecutors with laundering approximately $53 million in cryptocurrency stolen from U.S. victims through romance scams, with one Missouri victim losing $16 million between June and August 2024 after being directed to a fake crypto investment platform called Triangle. Investigators traced over $569,000 of the victim's stolen funds to a digital wallet linked to Van, who allegedly moved the proceeds through crypto investments to conceal their source.
nbclosangeles.com
· 2026-09-25
Michelle Bisnoff, a former Pacific Palisades resident, was found guilty of running a $2 million Ponzi scheme through her smart ring company Esos Rings, defrauding investors with false claims about the product's capabilities and fabricated partnerships with Apple and Roc Nation. Of the nearly $2 million raised from investors, approximately $1.4 million was never recovered, and Bisnoff also fraudulently obtained a $150,000 COVID-relief loan that she used for personal expenses. She was convicted of securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, identity theft, and COVID-relief fraud, with sentencing scheduled for January 21, 2027.
finance.yahoo.com
· 2026-09-24
A 70-year-old Michigan woman cashed out her and her late husband's pension accounts, totaling over $270,000, after a scammer posing as an FTC agent threatened her with arrest for alleged money laundering and drug trafficking. The victim was instructed to purchase gold and later withdraw cash to pay the fake charges, and was threatened with arrest if she contacted police. A 30-year-old man from Sacramento was arrested using community camera footage, though it's unclear whether the victim recovered her money.