The Westport, Connecticut police department recently assisted a cryptocurrency investor in reclaiming over $3 million worth of Bitcoin that was stolen through an investment scam.
According to Westport police lieutenant Eric Woods, the department opened an investigation in May after being contacted by the victim. Between January and March, the victim had transferred funds from their retirement account to a Kraken cryptocurrency exchange wallet address. They later discovered over $3 million in Bitcoin had been withdrawn from their account and moved to other wallets.
Working with the Connecticut State Police, Westport detectives tracked down the fraudulent transactions and successfully froze the accounts associated with the scam. This allowed law enforcement to recover the full $3 million in stolen funds, which has since been returned to the victim.
Lt. Woods noted the frozen accounts were traced back to individuals in Pakistan, making arrests very unlikely. But he emphasized this case demonstrates the strong efforts of the Westport Police Detective Bureau to combat cryptocurrency fraud.
Crypto scams have proliferated globally as the industry remains largely unregulated. A crypto scam tracker run by California’s financial regulator shows many complaints about fraudulent schemes. Other recent high-profile examples include a UK couple losing $56,000 to a Bitcoin phishing scam, and Thai authorities threatening legal action against Facebook over scam crypto ads.
With cryptocurrency fraud losses topping $1 billion in 2021, authorities remind crypto investors to exercise extreme caution and avoid investment opportunities that sound too good to be true. The recovery of the stolen $3 million in Westport provides hope for victims of crypto crimes.
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