Federal prosecutors are seeking to recover funds from an online cryptocurrency fraud scheme and the scammers that swindled a Massachusetts resident out of half a million dollars, the Office of US Attorney Leah B. Foley said Monday.
A civil forfeiture action filed by Foley’s office seeks to recover an approximate $200,000 or the equivalent of 200,000.039646 in Tether crypto, according to a statement.
The victim in Massachusetts met the alleged perpetrator on the Tinder online dating site. He went by “Nino Martin” and said he was a financial adviser, Foley’s office said.
When their conversation turned to cryptocurrency trading, Martin suggested they move their conversation from Tinder to WhatsApp, prosecutors said.
It’s a form of financial grooming and exploitation called a “pig-butchering” scheme, also known as romance baiting. The scammers, often located overseas, make contact online, establish trust, and lure their victims into investing using manipulative tactics, according to Foley’s office.
In the Massachusetts case, the victim was instructed to create an account and make a series of money transfers to a trading platform.
“The victim transferred approximately $504,353 to the suspected fraudulent trading platform prior to contacting law enforcement,” Foley’s statement said.
Investigators opened an investigation in April 2025, traced some of the victims money to a cryptocurrency account, and seized it in June, prosecutors said.
“A civil forfeiture action allows third parties to assert claims to property, which must be resolved before the property can be forfeited to the United States and returned to victims,” according to Foley’s statement.
Investigators urge anyone who believes they have been a victim of cybercrime — including cryptocurrency scams, romance scams, investment scams, and business email compromise fraud scams — to contact authorities at USAMA.CyberTip@usdoj.gov.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.
