Brooklyn crypto scam aimed at Russian speakers dismantled with FBI help

A crypto fraud network aimed at Russian speakers in the United States has been dismantled with help from the FBI. The scheme probably made off with tens of millions of dollars.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez's Virtual Currency Unit (VCU) headed the effort, which was described as “one of the biggest operational cyber disruptions undertaken by a local prosecutor’s office.”

The scammers behind a fake forex investing platform aimed their Russian-language ads at Brooklyn residents and promised big payouts.

Fake investment advisers reached out to victims and persuaded them to deposit money on the supposed site.

The platform displayed fabricated profits, but attempts to withdraw funds were met with claims that accounts had been locked or that more money was required to gain access.

Fraudsters went back to victims with recovery swindles

Officials shut down 241 crypto fraud domains and 112 servers spanning Ukraine, Eastern Europe and America.

The same group also revisited its earlier targets, pitching recovery efforts that promised to bring back their stolen crypto.

Gonzalez's office managed to seize $300,000, but many victims still lost their life savings.

FBI director draws fresh Russia headlines

Separately, FBI Director Kash Patel has been in the news over Russia.

Patel had arrived in Russia on Wednesday for a two-day meeting with the Federal Security Service (FSB), according to a report from MS NOW.

Officials in the US, though, said Patel was actually at a law enforcement event in Virginia that day.

After the event, Patel wrote on X: “From Russia, with love…”

Russia is currently providing real-time satellite data on the location of U.S. troops and bases in the Middle East to Iran, and the FBI Director is tweeting this and thinks it’s hilarious. https://t.co/BqX2rtumH1

— Andrew—#IAmTheResistance (@AmoneyResists) October 14, 2026

The post prompted a significant backlash, as X users cited the many ways the US is currently aiding Russia.

Moscow and Washington recently inked an agreement for Russia, Ukraine's attacker, to trade 300,000 barrels of diesel with the US. Another 500,000 are due in November, and a million “immediately thereafter.”