U.S. authorities seized stolen bitcoins worth $500 thousand.

An elderly U.S. citizen transferred cryptocurrency to phone scammers. The FBI seized the funds and promised to return them to their rightful owner.

 In the U.S., law enforcement authorities seized $500,000 worth of bitcoins belonging to an elderly American who was the victim of phone scammers. Details of the case are described in a statement from North Carolina District Attorney Dena King.

 In the summer of 2021, the perpetrators contacted the victim, convincing him they were representatives of the Office of Inspector General. The victim believed his personal information was being used in a drug trafficking and money laundering scheme, so all of his assets would be frozen by authorities. One of the perpetrators stated that the victim should transfer the funds to a secure government account until the government was satisfied that he was not involved in illegal activities.

Fraudsters forced the victim to use hundreds of thousands of dollars from his retirement funds to buy bitcoins on the Coinbase cryptocurrency exchange. On August 31 last year, 12.16 BTC, then valued at $574,700, were transferred to the attackers' account. At the current bitcoin exchange rate of $40.9 thousand, the approximate value of the cryptocurrency is $500 thousand.

Coinbase and the FBI identified the transfer as possible financial fraud. After the investigation and trial, the cryptocurrency was confiscated, and it was promised to be returned to the victim in the future.