Brooklyn prosecutors shut down 112 servers used in a crypto scam targeting Russian speakers, including a fake recovery service.
Regulation & Gov ·
Brooklyn's District Attorney announced the takedown of infrastructure supporting a crypto investment scheme targeting Russian-speaking Americans. Working with the FBI, prosecutors disrupted 112 servers and 241 web domains used to conduct the fraud, which they estimate extracted tens of millions of dollars from victims, including entire life savings. The operation seized approximately $300,000 in stolen funds, with authorities pursuing additional asset recovery.
The scheme operated through Russian-language Facebook advertisements that directed victims to purported investment platforms. Once enrolled, targets were guided by "investment advisors" to purchase cryptocurrency and transfer it to addresses controlled by the operators. After weeks or months, withdrawal attempts were blocked, and victims faced demands for additional fees or taxes. The investigation, which lasted three years, revealed the scammers maintained a secondary operation: a fake recovery service that contacted defrauded individuals weeks later with false promises to retrieve their assets.
The servers were hosted across Eastern Europe and the United States, with infrastructure routed through Ukraine and neighboring countries. Despite the unit's earlier disruption of 400 domains linked to the operation, new websites repeatedly emerged. By eliminating the underlying server architecture, prosecutors aim to prevent rapid reconstruction of fraudulent sites and limit contact with existing victims. Whether charges have been filed or arrests made remains unclear.