How Brooklyn prosecutors and the FBI brought down a major cryptocurrency fraud network that targeted Russian speakers.

The scheme reportedly stole tens of millions of dollars through Russian-language Facebook ads and fake consultants, then followed up on victims again with bogus recovery offers.

Brooklyn prosecutors and the FBI have seized or disrupted 241 websites and 112 servers linked to a crypto-investment scam that allegedly defrauded Russian-speaking victims in the United States of tens of millions of dollars.

The operation, which took place last week, followed a three-year investigation into a fraud network that relied on online infrastructure and IP addresses in Ukraine and other Eastern European countries, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said. No arrests have been made.

Fraudsters lured victims through Russian-language Facebook ads promising investment opportunities. The fake advisors then called the victims and instructed them to buy cryptocurrency and send it to the fake trading platforms.

When victims tried to withdraw their funds, the platforms locked their accounts or demanded additional payments for possible taxes and fees.

The scammers then "tried to exploit them again with false promises of getting their money back," Gonzalez said. The data shows that they contacted the victims a few weeks after the initial scam and offered to recover the stolen funds.

The DA's virtual currency unit had already seized or disrupted 400 domains linked to crypto-investment scams, but alternative sites continued to appear.

This time, investigators targeted servers hosted by companies in Eastern Europe and the United States that held victims' data and the software used to run the scam. The goal was to prevent operators from launching new sites too quickly.

This comes as crypto investment fraud accounts for approximately 84% of the $8.65 billion in investment fraud losses reported to the FBI in 2025, according to the bureau's annual report.

Across all cybercrime categories, crypto-related losses reached $11.37 billion, roughly 54 percent of the $20.88 billion total. Both percentages are calculated from the FBI total.

Brooklyn authorities have seized about $300,000 and are trying to recover more. Some victims lost their entire life savings, prosecutors said.

Diversified RWA stablecoins maintain a 5-7% return on real credit as crypto capital drops to 4%. GENIUS increases performance off-chain. TAM increases to $4 billion in 3 years.