"US Seizes $1.4 Million in Cryptocurrency From Tech Scammers"

US law enforcement recently seized $1.4 million worth of Tether (USDT) tokens believed to have been fraudulently obtained through tech support scams.  As part of the alleged scheme, which mainly targeted the elderly across the US, victims were targeted with popups on their computers, claiming that the system had been compromised.  The FBI noted that the victims were directed to contact Microsoft or Apple, depending on the operating system on their machine, by calling a certain phone number that connected them with the perpetrators, who posed as tech support employees.  The fraudsters then convinced the victims to install remote access programs on their systems and told them that their Social Security numbers and bank accounts had also been compromised, connecting them with other perpetrators who impersonated employees of the victim’s bank.  Finally, the victims were convinced to convert their funds to cryptocurrency to allegedly protect them, and to transfer them to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by the perpetrators and their co-conspirators.  Tether, the company that launched the cryptocurrency stablecoin in 2014, provided voluntary support to the US authorities in seizing the funds.

SecurityWeek reports: "US Seizes $1.4 Million in Cryptocurrency From Tech Scammers"