The scheme, which took place in December 2024, targeted several U.S. citizens through fraudulent emails sent from a domain resembling the official inaugural committee address. By swapping the letter "i" for "l" in the domain (@t47lnaugural.com), the fraudsters managed to deceive recipients into believing the communication was legitimate.
In these emails, the perpetrators claimed President Trump urgently required financial support and urged donors to contribute by transferring funds to a specified crypto wallet (“58c52”). One victim followed instructions, sending $250,300 USDT via the Ethereum blockchain. The funds were quickly laundered and distributed across multiple wallets.
Thanks to Tether’s compliance team, $40,300 of the stolen funds have been traced and frozen. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is now seeking court approval to return the recovered assets to the victim.
“All donors should double and triple-check before sending cryptocurrency to any recipient. Law enforcement may face significant challenges in recovering lost assets due to the complex nature of blockchain,” stated prosecutor Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
The FBI is actively investigating the case. This incident follows a series of high-profile crypto crimes, including a recent DOJ report on North Korean operatives who stole over $900,000 while posing as IT specialists.