U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro’s office has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to recover $40,300 in cryptocurrency allegedly stolen during a scheme targeting a donor to the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. According to the complaint, the scam began when the victim received an email on Christmas Eve, 2024, purporting to be from Steve Witkoff, co-chair of the Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee. All told, the intended donor sent $250,300 worth of crypto, authorities said.
Believing the request was authentic, the victim transferred 250,300 USDT.ETH, a stablecoin pegged to the dollar on the Ethereum blockchain, to a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by the scammer, whose operation was traced to Nigeria. Within two hours, the funds were allegedly laundered through a series of additional wallets, making recovery difficult.
Despite the complexity of the blockchain transactions, the FBI’s Washington Field Office was able to trace and recover $40,300 of the stolen cryptocurrency through advanced blockchain analysis. The recovered funds are now the subject of the civil forfeiture action, with the goal of returning them to the victim.
Subtle email trick
The fraudulent message appeared to come from a legitimate campaign address, but in reality, the sender had swapped the lowercase “i” in the domain “@t47inaugural.com” with a lowercase “l” — a subtle change nearly indistinguishable in many fonts. This classic email spoofing technique is a hallmark of Business Email Compromise (BEC) schemes, which cost Americans millions per year.
“All donors should double and triple check that they are sending cryptocurrency to their intended recipient. It can be extremely difficult for law enforcement to recoup lost funds due to the extremely complex nature of the blockchain,” U.S. Attorney Pirro warned.
The Department of Justice acknowledged Tether, the issuer of USDT, for its assistance in facilitating the recovery of the stolen assets. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Blaylock, Jr., and remains under investigation by the FBI Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division.
This incident underscores the evolving tactics of cybercriminals and the importance of vigilance when handling digital assets. As cryptocurrency becomes increasingly integrated into political fundraising and charitable giving, officials urge all donors to exercise extreme caution and verify recipient details before making any transfers.
For this story, Fortune used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.