Crypto scam crackdown: White House cites $833 million halted

The crypto scam crackdown got a White House stage on Wednesday, Oct. 21. Ahead of a cybercrime roundtable, an administration official told CoinDesk that U.S. agencies had halted about $833 million in crypto connected to overseas scam operations and seized 503 fraudulent crypto websites under the Homeland Security Task Force.

What happened

The official also said authorities had informed almost 9,000 U.S. citizens that they were being victimised. The scams in question are run by organised groups from compounds in Burma, Cambodia, Laos and the Philippines, using relationship scams, phishing and ransomware, CoinDesk reported.

At the event in the East Room, President Donald Trump rounded the figures up. "Federal law enforcement has also frozen nearly $1 billion of cybercurrency tied to foreign scammers, shut down more than 500 fraudulent websites," he said, according to Rightline News, and claimed authorities had "prevented $1.6B in losses, at least this year."

He was joined by Attorney General Todd Blanche, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin, FBI Director Kash Patel, Director of National Intelligence Jay Clayton and other officials. The roundtable followed an executive order and a memorandum that expand private-sector involvement in fighting cyber-enabled crime, the outlet said.

Stephen Miller, the deputy chief of staff, said the administration had "effectively declared cyber warfare against the cyber criminals," according to Rightline News. Trump also said the government had worked with technology companies to disrupt "millions and millions of online accounts used by foreign criminals." Officials did not say how those accounts were counted.

Why it matters

The numbers are large but still small next to the losses. CoinDesk noted that crypto-related scams have taken tens of billions of dollars from Americans. Freezing funds is also not the same as returning them; the figures cited were for money halted or restrained, not repaid to victims.

The crypto scam crackdown builds on earlier steps. The Treasury formed a multi-agency Scam Center Strike Force last November to go after so-called pig butchering, and Washington has issued sanctions against the websites and infrastructure behind such schemes, CoinDesk said. Our report on Treasury A7 network sanctions covers one recent case, and Europe is building similar tools, as in our story on ESMA MiCA scam site freeze powers.

There is a political angle. With the midterms two weeks away, Trump's own crypto ties have drawn self-dealing accusations, CoinDesk noted, so the event also served to put enforcement in the spotlight.

The gap between the briefing figure and Trump's "nearly $1 billion" also shows how loosely such totals can be quoted. The $833 million came from an official describing crypto halted under the task force, while the president's number covered a broader category he called cybercurrency tied to foreign scammers.

What's next

Officials did not give a breakdown of how much of the frozen crypto has been forfeited or returned. CoinDesk's report on the plans for the event is here.

Watch for court filings that turn frozen balances into forfeitures, which is where the crypto scam crackdown will show whether victims get money back.