The victim, identified in court documents only as T.M., received an unsolicited letter at their home address in September 2025. The letter appeared to come from “Ledger Security and Compliance” and instructed the recipient to complete a mandatory security review of their Ledger hardware wallet.
Civil forfeiture allowed prosecutors to act without identifying or criminally charging the perpetrators, who are believed to be overseas. Interim U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan stated that criminals should not expect to hold onto stolen proceeds. FBI Special Agent in Charge P.J. O’Brien credited the joint effort between federal and state investigators in tracing and securing the funds.
Ledger has consistently warned customers that it does not send unsolicited mail requesting seed phrases or security verification. Any letter or communication asking for a recovery phrase is a scam.
FAQ What was the Ledger phishing scam in Connecticut? A scammer mailed a fake “Ledger Security and Compliance” letter to a Connecticut resident, tricking them into surrendering their wallet’s recovery phrase and losing approximately $234,000 in cryptocurrency. How did the FBI recover the stolen tether? Agents used blockchain analytics to trace the stolen funds through multiple wallets, locating over $600,000 in USDT the scammers had converted the assets into. What is civil forfeiture in a cryptocurrency case? Civil forfeiture lets federal prosecutors seize assets tied to criminal activity without a criminal conviction, which is useful when suspects are unidentified or located overseas. How can Ledger users protect themselves from mail phishing? Ledger never sends unsolicited letters requesting seed phrases or security verification, so any such letter should be treated as a scam and reported to the FBI at ic3.gov.
