The US Department of Justice is seeking to recover about 327,829 USDT (Tether USDt) allegedly tied to money laundering linked to an online romance scam.
The US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts filed a civil forfeiture action seeking the stablecoins, which authorities say were connected to an alleged scheme run by an individual using the name “Linda Brown” that targeted a Massachusetts resident beginning in 2024. According to the complaint, some of the victim’s funds were traced to multiple unhosted cryptocurrency wallets that were seized in August 2025. The government alleges the cryptocurrency in those wallets was property involved in money laundering.
The notice of the action came roughly three weeks after Valentine’s Day. Ahead of the holiday, the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio warned the public not to send money, gift cards, or cryptocurrency to people they have not met in person, citing the prevalence of romance scams.
Cointelegraph contacted Tether for comment but had not received a response at the time of reporting.
Separately, a Tether spokesperson told Reuters that the company had frozen approximately $4.2 billion worth of USDt linked to suspected criminal activity since 2023. Tether can blacklist wallet addresses, a capability it has used at the request of authorities in various jurisdictions. For example, in February the company said it had frozen about $544 million allegedly tied to unlawful betting platforms and money laundering at the request of Turkish authorities.
Cointelegraph notes it produces independent, transparent reporting and encourages readers to verify information independently.
