Cobb County resident recovers hundreds of thousands lost to fake cryptocurrency platform.
The office of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr traced the funds to a cryptocurrency exchange and obtained a court order to have them returned.
Fake platform looked like the real thing
The Attorney General's office stated that the victim was contacted by a stranger via social media.
This stranger used names of mutual acquaintances to create a sense of familiarity, then steered the conversation towards an allegedly profitable cryptocurrency deal.
At that point, the platform allowed the victim to withdraw a small amount. This gave them confidence to continue depositing funds. Then, fake profits were displayed in the account, making the balance appear as if it was growing.
After the victim invested hundreds of thousands, the site reported that all the money was gone, and the criminal claimed the investments had vanished.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation traced the majority of the victim's funds to a cryptocurrency exchange.
Following this, Carr's Economic and Cyber Crimes Division, working jointly with the investigative unit, secured a court order compelling the exchange to return the assets.
The non-profit organization Operation Shamrock, which assists cryptocurrency fraud victims, collaborated on this case with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI).
"Cryptocurrency scams aim to exploit trust, a sense of urgency, and the promise of easy financial gain," said GBI Director Chris Hosey in a statement. He added that anyone who has fallen victim should report the crime to local law enforcement.
This scheme aligns with what federal authorities call "pig butchering." Scammers cultivate the victim's trust over weeks to get more money, then disappear.
New Georgia kiosk law raises the bar for requirements
A week earlier, Carr's office announced a similar recovery case for an elderly couple from Oconee County, tricked by someone impersonating a Federal Trade Commission agent who convinced them to transfer cash to a virtual currency terminal following a false warning of a bank leak.
In July, a retired couple from Cobb County lost approximately $800,000 in a scam scheme that used an AI-generated "dummy site" to simulate real-time profits.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia recovered $1.7 million.
In January, the state of Massachusetts petitioned the court to seize about $200,000 stolen in a romance investment scam scheme.
In both cases, agents traced the movement of funds on the blockchain before the prosecution petitioned the court.
The recovery occurred a few weeks after Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 945, which takes effect on July 1.
Under the law, kiosks selling virtual currencies are required to post a sign warning that losses incurred due to fraud or mistakes are not recoverable.
The law obliges kiosk operators to cap transaction fees at 18% and to provide refunds to victims of fraud within 72 hours.
Banks may temporarily freeze accounts they suspect are being used for the financial exploitation of elderly clients.
