NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — The United States (US) government said Wednesday it recovered US$225 million in the largest seizure yet of money stolen in a cryptocurrency confidence scam.

The FBI and the US Secret Service used blockchain analyses and other investigative techniques to determine that these millions came from the theft and laundering of funds from victims of cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes, the US Attorney’s Office said in a statement, without specifying whether arrests were made.

Dozens of people in the United States and more than 400 victims around the world thought they were making legitimate crypto investments when they were in fact being scammed, the statement said.

The scheme involved a savvy blockchain-based money laundering network that carried out hundreds of thousands of transactions to hide the source and ownership of the stolen money, it added.

“These scams prey on trust, often resulting in extreme financial hardship for the victims,” Shawn Bradstreet of the US Secret Service office in San Francisco said.

US officials hope the money can eventually be returned to its rightful owners, he added.

Cryptocurrency investment fraud caused more than $5.8 billion in reported losses in 2024 alone, the statement said.