Tether
Tether has been named in 2 documented digital harm incidents. The most common harm domain is Fraud & Financial.
Documented Incidents
269-year-old retiree loses $500,000 to pig butchering scam via ai-generated images and fake crypto platform in december 2025
US federal agents in North Carolina seized $61 million worth of USDt linked to a "pig butchering" crypto scam involving fake online relationships and fraudulent trading platforms. The scam, uncovered in February 2026, targeted victims through AI-generated images and fabricated personas, luring them into fake investment platforms with promises of high returns before blocking withdrawals. Investigators from Homeland Security tracked funds across multiple wallets, identifying addresses with remaining proceeds subject to forfeiture. Tether, the issuer of USDt, cooperated in the investigation to freeze and recover assets. The case highlights a surge in crypto fraud, with Chainalysis reporting $17 billion in losses in 2025, driven by AI-enabled impersonation scams that grew 1,400% year-on-year. A December 2025 victim lost retirement savings after being deceived by a scammer using AI-generated images and a fake investment platform.
Trump-Vance inaugural donor loses $250,000 to crypto scam via spoofed email from fake Steve Witkoff address, leading to partial recovery of $40,300 with FBI and Tether assistance
A Trump-Vance Inaugural Committee donor was scammed out of $250,000 in cryptocurrency after receiving a fraudulent email that appeared to be from Steve Witkoff. The email, sent on Christmas Eve 2024, contained a subtle domain spoof—replacing an “i” with an “l” in the email address. The victim transferred 250,300 USDT.ETH to a scammer-controlled wallet, which was then traced to Nigeria. The FBI recovered $40,300 of the stolen funds through blockchain analysis. A civil forfeiture complaint has been filed to return the recovered amount to the victim. The U.S. Attorney’s office and Tether assisted in the recovery effort.