Six Charged Over Dating Scam That Drained Crypto Wallets of Around 800 Victims

US prosecutors have announced charges against six people accused of running a scam operation from a compound in Madagascar. According to an affidavit, the group has links to China and Malaysia and set up the compound early last year. Scammers posed as attractive women on dating websites, built relationships with victims, then persuaded them to connect their cryptocurrency wallets to fraudulent websites tied to supposed NFT investments.

The Justice Department says the scammers encouraged victims to keep adding funds to their wallets, then quietly pulled money out without their knowledge. The FBI identified about 74 cryptocurrency wallets linked to roughly 800 victims, with estimated losses of at least US$516,695.

Investigators reviewed devices seized from scam compounds in Madagascar. Interviews with workers indicated that operations at a Cambodian compound were moved to Madagascar after Cambodian police activity and armed conflict between Thailand and Cambodia. Phones belonging to the alleged leader contained employment contracts and scripts for talking to victims, which described the activity as "an emotional scam." The investigation was not completed before Madagascar repatriated some suspects to China, according to the Justice Department.

This summary is based on the opening of the source article, not the full report.