Brooklyn DA and FBI disrupt 241 sites tied to crypto scam targeting Russian speakers
In brief
- Brooklyn prosecutors and the FBI seized or disrupted 241 websites and 112 servers.
- The scam allegedly stole tens of millions from Russian-speaking U.S. victims, prosecutors said.
- A three-year investigation preceded the operation; no arrests were announced.
- Scammers allegedly returned weeks later with fake offers to recover stolen funds.
- Brooklyn authorities seized about $300,000 and are working to recover more.
How the scheme allegedly worked
It started with Facebook. The scammers drew victims through Russian-language Facebook ads that promised investment opportunities, and fake advisers then called those victims and coached them to buy crypto and send it to fraudulent trading platforms.
Getting the money back out wasn't possible. When victims tried to withdraw, the platforms locked their accounts or demanded more payments for supposed taxes and fees. Prosecutors said some victims lost their entire life savings.
Then the scammers allegedly came back.
Recovered data showed they contacted victims a few weeks after the initial fraud, offering to retrieve the stolen funds.
The scammers then “tried to exploit them again with false promises to recover their money,” Gonzalez said.
Why investigators went after the servers
Taking down domains alone hadn't worked. The DA's Virtual Currency Unit had previously seized or disrupted 400 domains tied to crypto investment fraud, but replacement sites kept appearing. So this time investigators targeted the servers (hosted by Eastern European and U.S. companies) that held victim data and the software used to run the fraud. The goal was to stop the operators from quickly launching new sites.
According to Gonzalez, the network relied on online infrastructure and IP addresses in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries. Brooklyn authorities have seized about $300,000 and are working to recover more, the DA's office said. That's a fraction of the tens of millions prosecutors allege was taken.
The bigger picture
The numbers nationally are much bigger. Crypto investment scams accounted for roughly 84% of the $8.65 billion in investment-fraud losses reported to the FBI in 2025, according to the bureau's annual report. Across all internet-crime categories, crypto-linked losses totaled $11.37 billion, about 54% of the $20.88 billion overall (CoinDesk calculated both percentages from the FBI's totals).
It's a reminder of how much of the web's fraud now runs through crypto rails, and why prosecutors in Brooklyn decided they'd rather go after the infrastructure than chase one domain at a time.
Frequently asked questions
How did the alleged crypto scam targeting Russian speakers work?
According to CoinDesk, the scammers drew victims through Russian-language Facebook ads that promised investment opportunities. Fake advisers then called victims and coached them to buy cryptocurrency and send it to fraudulent trading platforms. When victims tried to withdraw, the platforms locked their accounts or demanded more payments for supposed taxes and fees.
Why did Brooklyn investigators target servers instead of just websites?
The DA's Virtual Currency Unit had previously seized or disrupted 400 domains tied to crypto investment fraud, but replacement sites kept appearing. Investigators targeted servers hosted by Eastern European and U.S. companies that held victim data and the fraud software. The goal was to stop the operators from quickly launching new sites.
How large are crypto investment scam losses reported to the FBI?
Crypto investment scams accounted for roughly 84% of the $8.65 billion in investment-fraud losses reported to the FBI in 2025, according to the bureau's annual report. Across all internet-crime categories, crypto-linked losses totaled $11.37 billion, about 54% of the $20.88 billion overall. CoinDesk calculated the percentages from FBI totals.
