US Agents Seize $61M USDt in Major Pig Butchering Crypto Scam

• This recent case comes amid explosive growth in crypto fraud comprising pig butchering that amalgamates romance scams with fake trading opportunities. 
• In December 2025, a Bitcoin investor mentioned that he lost all his retirement savings after being groomed by an online trader who used AI-generated images.

US federal agents from North Carolina have captured over $61 million worth of USDt associated with a large-scale “pig butchering” crypto investment scam that hunted victims via fake online relationships and fraudulent trading platforms. 

As per the Office of US Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina in Raleigh on Feb 24, the hackers presented as romantic partners and alleged to have special trading expertise. 

They then directed their victims toward compelling but fake crypto sites that showed fictitious investment portfolios posing unusually high returns that attracted them to invest more before the hackers blocked their withdrawals and demanded extra fees when victims attempted to have their money back. 

Investigators from Homeland Security Investigations tracked the funds of the victims over various wallets used to launder the proceeds before recognising various addresses that still had substantial amounts, which were captured and made subject to forfeiture. 

The Growing Cases 

The prosecutor highlighted that Tether cooperated in the investigation: “The Department of Justice and HSI accepts Tether for its assistance in moving these assets,” the release mentions, in the recent example of stablecoin issuers working with officials to freeze as well as recover funds going via US dollar-pegged tokens such as USDt of Tether. 

This recent case comes amid explosive growth in crypto fraud comprising pig butchering that amalgamates romance scams with fake trading opportunities. Data from the 2026 Crypto Scam Report of Chainalysis found that crypto scam losses last year attained $17 billion, with AI-influenced impersonation and social engineering scams increasing by 1,400% year-on-year and being far more profitable than traditional phishing or giveaway schemes. 

In December 2025, a Bitcoin investor mentioned that he lost all his retirement savings after being groomed by an online trader who used AI-generated images and a fabricated persona to gain trust before convincing him to shift his coins into a fake investment platform. 

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