How US Investigators Traced $61M in Crypto Linked to Romance Scams

Federal authorities in North Carolina seized more than $61 million in USDT in February 2026 after tracing funds tied to a romance-driven pig-butchering crypto scam. Investigators followed the blockchain’s permanent transaction records to reconstruct deposits and transfers across many wallets and froze the assets before they could disappear.

The scheme began with grooming on social media, dating sites or messaging apps, where perpetrators built trust and then directed victims to fake investment platforms. Bogus trading dashboards showed fabricated gains, prompting victims to deposit more; withdrawal attempts led to demands for taxes, fees or additional deposits until accounts were locked and funds vanished.

Investigators used blockchain analytics and wallet clustering to group addresses by transaction flows, timing patterns and consolidation points, linking dispersed wallets back to the broader laundering network.

United States, North Carolina

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