A donor to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee was reportedly defrauded of $250,300 in cryptocurrency. The FBI has recovered $40,300 of the stolen amount, which is now involved in a civil forfeiture case.
What Happened: The victim received an email on Christmas Eve 2024, which appeared to be from Steve Witkoff, co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. Believing it to be legitimate, the victim transferred 250,300 USDT.ETH—a dollar-pegged stablecoin on the Ethereum ETH/USD blockchain—to a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by a scammer later traced to Nigeria.
The funds were reportedly laundered within just two hours through multiple wallets, complicating recovery efforts. However, despite the intricate nature of the blockchain transactions, the FBI’s Washington Field Office managed to trace and recover $40,300 of the stolen cryptocurrency using advanced blockchain analysis.
U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro‘s office has filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to recover the remaining $210,000. The filing underscores the critical need to verify recipient information before initiating transfers—particularly as cryptocurrency plays a growing role in political fundraising and charitable donations.
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Why It Matters: The incident highlights the changing strategies of cybercriminals and the critical need for caution when managing digital assets. This comes in the wake of the U.S. Department of Justice filing a civil forfeiture complaint to claim over $225 million in cryptocurrency allegedly connected to international investment fraud schemes. This marked the largest crypto seizure to date involving so-called “confidence scams.”
Additionally, crypto hacks and exploits have surged to record levels in the first half of 2025, with total losses exceeding $2.1 billion across at least 75 incidents, according to blockchain intelligence firm TRM Labs. The largest single event was the $1.5 billion hack of Dubai-based crypto exchange Bybit in February, which TRM Labs attributes to North Korea. This highlights the increasing need for vigilance and security in the cryptocurrency space.
Image via Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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