Brooklyn prosecutors uncovered a second fraud targeting the same investors after dismantling infrastructure behind a multinational crypto scam.

Crypto scammers who stole millions from Russian-speaking investors approached the same victims weeks later, promising to recover their losses.

On Oct. 14, Brooklyn prosecutors disclosed the fraud after an international enforcement operation disrupted 112 servers and 241 websites supporting a cryptocurrency investment scheme that allegedly stole tens of millions of dollars from victims across the United States.

The operation, conducted with help from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), targeted the infrastructure used to run fraudulent investment platforms and keep in contact with victims. Investigators recovered data showing the same criminal network tried to exploit people again after they lost money in the original scheme.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the scammers had targeted Russian-speaking Americans through an elaborate investment operation before attempting to extract further payments by offering to retrieve stolen cryptocurrency.

The investigation, which has been underway for three years, identified a concentration of victims in Brooklyn, home to a large Russian-speaking population. Some victims lost their entire life savings, according to prosecutors.

The recovered information also exposed how the fraudsters maintained relationships with victims beyond the initial theft, creating opportunities to solicit additional payments after their fraudulent investment platforms stopped processing withdrawals.

Investigators traced the operation to Russian-language Facebook ads promoting cryptocurrency investment opportunities.

People who responded to the ads received phone calls from individuals posing as Russian-speaking investment advisers. The purported advisers then directed them to cryptocurrency trading websites, helped them create accounts, and instructed them to purchase digital assets.

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