WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro announced today that her office has filed a civil complaint to recover 40,353 USDT.ETH in cryptocurrency stolen through a sophisticated Business Email Compromise (BEC) scheme targeting a donor to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.
According to the complaint, scammers impersonated officials from the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee and fraudulently stole approximately $250,300 worth of cryptocurrency from an intended donor. The stolen funds were then laundered through multiple cryptocurrency wallets in an attempt to cover their tracks. Through diligent blockchain analysis, the FBI was able to trace and recover 40,300 USDT.ETH, which the complaint now seeks to recover and return to the victim.
“All donors should double and triple check that they are sending cryptocurrency to their intended recipient. It can be extremely difficult for law enforcement to recoup lost funds due to the complex nature of the blockchain,” said U.S. Attorney Pirro. “Nevertheless, my office and our law enforcement partners stand ready to go toe-to-toe with criminals and make victims whole.”
The scam involved emails sent on December 24, 2024, from an address purporting to be Steve Witkoff, Co-Chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. The fraudulent email address used was @t47lnaugural.com, a near-perfect imitation of the legitimate @t47inaugural.com domain. The scam relied on a subtle letter swap — replacing the uppercase “I” with a lowercase “L” — which can be easily missed, depending on the font.
The imposter instructed the victim to transfer funds to a cryptocurrency wallet ending in 58c52. Believing the request to be legitimate, the victim transferred 250,300 USDT.ETH to the wallet on December 26, 2024. Within two hours, the fraudsters moved the funds to other wallets to obscure the trail.
“Impersonation scams take many forms and cost Americans billions in losses each year,” said Steven J. Jensen, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI Washington Field Office. “To avoid becoming a victim, carefully review email addresses, website URLs, and spelling in any messages you receive. Scammers often use subtle differences to deceive you and gain your trust. Never send money, gift cards, cryptocurrency, or other assets to people you do not know personally or have only interacted with online or over the phone.”
Members of the public who believe they have been victims of cybercrime — including business email compromise, cryptocurrency scams, romance scams, investment fraud, or “pig butchering” scams — are encouraged to report incidents to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov.
The Department of Justice also acknowledged the cooperation of Tether, the issuer of USDT, for their assistance in freezing and transferring the recovered assets.
The FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division is leading the investigation, with the case being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Blaylock Jr.
