
In the first action of its kind, the Office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. has seized and taken down a website domain for a cryptocurrency recovery site.
The site, Coin Dispute Network, is one of many that have increased in popularity in recent years, the DA’s office said in a statement. The company claimed to be able to trace and recover people’s stolen cryptocurrency in exchange for a fee. It kept the fee, then asked for additional Ethereum, a type of cryptocurrency, by making additional false promises to trace and recover the stolen assets. It also generated inaccurate blockchain tracing reports to the victims.
Last year, the company announced that it had recovered more than $1.3 million in stolen cryptocurrency, Crain’s New York Business reported. The DA’s investigation identified multiple victims in Manhattan and dozens more across the country, according to its statement.
“Thanks to the expertise of our prosecutors, investigators and specialized cryptocurrency analysts, we were able to take this fraudulent website off-line as we continue to actively investigate,” Bragg said in the statement. “Our Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau is committed to protecting victims from cryptocurrency scams in Manhattan, a global financial center. We want victims of the Coin Dispute Network—no matter where you are—to come forward as we work to hold these bad actors accountable and prevent future fraud.”
The action comes after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently charged two crypto firms with securities violations. In May, New York State Attorney General Letitia James proposed legislation to tighten crypto industry regulation.
Three quarters of Americans adults who have heard of cryptocurrencies are not confident in their safety and reliability, a Pew Research Center survey reported in April.