U.S. prosecutors have filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit seeking to seize approximately $340,000 in Tether (USDT), alleging that the funds are tied to crypto investment scams and money laundering activities.
According to disclosures by the prosecutors, scammers established contact with victims by sending erroneous texts and used communication platforms such as WhatsApp and Telegram to guide them into participating in what was purported to be an Ethereum investment project backed by physical gold.
During the process, victims were instructed to transfer ETH to an intermediary wallet, which was then converted to USDT and sent to a non-custodial wallet, thereby obscuring the source and ownership of the funds.