US federal prosecutors, led by US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro, have recovered $40,300 in cryptocurrency that was stolen in a fake email scam pretending to be from the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a press release on Wednesday that scammers tricked someone into sending them $250,300 worth of USDT, a stablecoin on the Ethereum blockchain, by acting like official committee members.
The scam was implemented on December 24, 2024. The scammers have used a fake email address to copy the real address. The victims received a tricky email that looked like it came from Steve Witkoff, a co-chair of the committee. People thought that it was real mail, and they sent the money to the scammers’ crypto wallet. The scammers then quickly moved the money through different wallets to hide it.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) used blockchain technology to track and recover the stolen $40,300 USDT. Now, the authorities are trying to give that money back to the victim through a legal process. FBI Assistant Director Steven Jensen from the Washington Field Office warned that these impersonation scams happen in many ways and cost Americans billions every year.
He has suggested that people should carefully check email addresses and never send money, gift cards, or crypto to strangers, particularly to those people whom they only know online or over the phone, because scammers use small tricks to fool people by being friendly with them.
In May 2024, Donald Trump announced that his presidential campaign would start accepting donations in cryptocurrency through Coinbase Commerce, using Bitcoin, Ether, Dogecoin, Shiba Inu, XRP, USDC, and Solana, making it easier for crypto fans to support him.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) also thanked Tether for helping them freeze and move the $40,300 in stolen cryptocurrency from the recent Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee scam. During June 2025, Tether has played a major role. The firm has helped the DOJ to regain $225 million in USDT that was taken in a global “pig butchering” scam, where scammers tricked people globally by being friendly with them.
Additionally, in May 2025, the DOJ took action against Rustam Gallyamov, a Russian man. The authorities had seized more than $24 million in cryptocurrency. This malware infected computers globally, allowing scammers to demand payments. The man was accused of developing the QakBot malware. These initiatives highlight how authorities and companies like Tether are working together to catch crypto criminals globally.
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