As part of an effort to shut down large, foreign-based crypto frauds, the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) announced that it has seized a web domain operated by an alleged scam centre in Burma, and shut down thousands of social media accounts.
The DoJ reported that it has taken control of a domain — tickmilleas.com — that was being operated from an alleged scam compound, known as Tai Chang (aka Casino Kosai), to target investors in crypto-based investment frauds.
“The seized domain was disguised as a legitimate investment platform to trick victims into unknowingly depositing their funds,” the DoJ said in a release — adding that alleged victims reported that the site showed that they were generating high returns on their purported investments, but that the trading activity was false, and investors lost their assets.
Additionally, the DoJ alleged that the site directed investors to download apps linked to the scam that were available in the Google Play and Apple App stores.
Those apps have been voluntarily removed by the tech companies, the DoJ said. It reported that Meta also identified and removed more than 2,000 social media accounts that were allegedly connected to the scam centre from its platforms.
According to U.S. authorities, the FBI received more than 41,000 complaints about crypto investment scams in 2024, which involved approximately US$5.8 billion in losses.