Ohio Brother and Sister Lose More Than $1M in Cryptocurrency Investment Scam

CLEVELAND – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio has filed a civil complaint in forfeiture against cryptocurrency suspected of being fraudulently obtained as part of an investment scam. A victim in Trumbull County and his sister lost more than $1 million of their savings in the scheme.

On Aug. 27, 2025, the United States filed a civil complaint in forfeiture against a total of 325,060 Tether (USDT) cryptocurrency, valued at approximately $325,060. USDT are digital tokens that are circulated through the internet and tied to, or “tethered,” to a fiat currency such as the U.S. dollar. The USDT amount in the complaint is valued at $325,060 at a 1:1 ratio to the dollar.

According to court documents, on, or, about Nov. 24, 2024, an elderly male victim in Bristolville, Ohio, filed a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. The fraud began when he received a text from an unknown number looking for someone named “Zach.” The victim responded and eventually became friendly with the person, who unbeknownst to him, was a scammer. The scammer suggested that they start communicating through the Telegram platform where she went by the username “Shaw Goddess.” The scammer established trust with the victim by painting herself as a successful investor and encouraged the victim to also invest in cryptocurrencies.

At the scammer’s direction, the victim opened a new account with Crypto.com, a virtual currency exchange. Eventually, Crypto.com limited the amount of cryptocurrency that the victim could purchase. To get around that limit, the scammer instructed the victim to open a second account through another virtual currency exchange, Strike.com. The victim wired more than $1 million of his own money to the cryptocurrency accounts. The scammer then instructed the victim to transfer his cryptocurrency assets purchased through Crypto.com and Strike.com to a fake investment platform. The victim also convinced his sister to make investments of more than $600,000.

When the victim tried to withdraw some of his alleged gains from the fake investment platform, he was told that his funds were locked up and could not be withdrawn. Around that same time, his sister also tried to withdraw funds but was told that a 10% tax must be paid upfront. That concerned the victim as he generally knew how taxation worked, and this was inconsistent with his understanding. It was after these two incidents when the victim realized that he was the target of a fraud scheme.

Many virtual currencies publicly record all their transactions on what is known as a “blockchain.”  The blockchain is essentially a distributed public ledger, run by the decentralized network of computers, containing an immutable and historical record of every transaction utilizing that blockchain’s technology. The blockchain records every virtual currency address that has ever received virtual currency. It also maintains records of every transaction and all known balances for each virtual currency address.

Through several steps of “blockchain analysis,” federal investigators traced approximately $200,000 of the funds stolen from the victim to a cryptocurrency address on the Tron blockchain. As part of their forensic analysis, they determined that the stolen cryptocurrency was converted to Tether (USDT).

On Dec. 31, 2024, the USDT tokens at the subject cryptocurrency address were frozen by Tether Limited, Inc. At the time of the freeze, the cryptocurrency address had a balance of 325,060 USDT (valued at approximately $325,060). Thereafter, pursuant to a federal seizure warrant issued on March 20, 2025, the 325,060 USDT tokens were transferred by Tether Limited, Inc., to a U.S. law enforcement-controlled virtual currency wallet.

By the complaint in forfeiture filed Aug. 27, 2025, the United States seeks to forfeit the 325,060 USDT in cryptocurrency. In the complaint, the United States alleges that the additional cryptocurrency funds contained in the address, in excess of the victims’ traceable losses, are also subject to forfeiture as the proceeds of other fraudulent activities and are alleged to be involved in money laundering violations.

The claims asserted in the complaint are allegations only. The United States must prove the claims by a preponderance of evidence.

If successful in this forfeiture action, the United States would seek to return the stolen funds to the victims.

The FBI Cleveland Division is actively investigating this case and related cryptocurrency fraud schemes perpetrated on victims throughout the United States. Assistant United States Attorney James L. Morford is leading the prosecution for the Northern District of Ohio.

To report fraudulent conduct involving older adults, contact the dedicated National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-FRAUD-11 or 1-833-372-8311 and visit the FBI’s IC3 Elder Fraud Complaint Center at IC3.gov to submit a report. 

Click here to view the complaint: