Cryptocurrency scammers based in China and Southeast Asia have stolen millions of dollars from vulnerable Americans, according to D.C. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
While President Trump “has sought to make the U.S. a leading haven for cryptocurrency,” Pirro emphasized in a press conference, “It's important for Americans to understand the safe use of the commodity, there are no tricks that can be a part.” Unfortunately, cryptocurrency is the medium for a massive new “scamdemic” that is robbing elderly Americans of their whole life savings.
Chinese organized crime is behind the disturbing number of crypto scams, Pirro insisted. These are not random, small-time criminals, but rather a network of abusive fraudsters.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced a new strike force to crack down on Chinese organized crime and cryptocurrency investment fraud schemes.
— The National Desk (@TND) November 12, 2025
Pirro described a scam where an elderly woman lost $1 million of her life savings and another that led to… pic.twitter.com/0MvxVeOw8J
Pirro aims to expose the “fraudulent contacts and pitfalls so that Americans end up being secure in their investments.” She provided two examples of how “devastating” the foreign scams can be. “Older Americans in particular are targets of these scams, many of them lonely, many of them looking to speak to someone who communicates with them,” Pirro noted. “Their entire life savings gone, their retirement funds gone, left with no opportunity to go back into the workforce and to re-earn money.”
One woman, Pirro explained, told authorities that she sent $40,000 for the crypto investments initially, “and she was provided with screenshots, screenshots that showed the profits of her cryptocurrency investment.” She believed she "was making all this profit. That's what encouraged me to invest more.” Tragically, “in the end, the woman, who was 60 years old, lost $1 million of her life savings,” Pirro added.
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Pirro went on, “Another person said, ‘you know, I've been financially assaulted, and it's a devastating feeling.’” The Virginia man in question lost $272,000, everything he had, and in despair, he committed suicide. His mourning daughter told authorities, “There wasn't enough money left even to pay for his headstone.”
Such heartbreaking stories have multiplied as the “scamdemic” goes on, Pirro emphasized, “certainly a generational wealth transfer from Main Street USA into the hands of Chinese organized crime, making it both a national security problem and a Homeland Security problem.”
A new Scam Center Strike Force will be investigating and looking to thwart the scamdemic and discover just how organized the network of Chinese criminals is. The strike force also aims to trace the stolen funds, recover and restore them to victims when possible, and shut down the websites and other infrastructure being used to exploit victims.
Pirro proudly declared that the strike force has already been so effective that it seized $400 million. It has also filed actions to seize $80 million more. The money will be returned to the victims.
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