Chinese man extradited for role in $36 million cryptocurrency scam
A Chinese national was arraigned in California after being extradited from the Netherlands for his alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency investment scam that stole nearly $37 million from 174 victims in the United States.
A Chinese national was arraigned in California after being extradited from the Netherlands for his alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency investment scam that stole nearly $37 million from 174 victims in the United States.
The criminal ring Zhao was allegedly part of reached out to targets across the United States via unsolicited text messages, social media, phone calls, and even online dating services to gain their trust, promoting the fraudulent digital asset investments and saying that the victims' funds' value increased, when, in fact, their money was stolen.
Zhao was charged in August 2025 with conspiracy to commit money laundering and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if found guilty.
The Blue Report 2026 measures defenses technique by technique across 338 million simulations run in customer production environments.
Prosecutors said that, together with accomplices in the United States and Cambodia, 44-year-old Zhen Zhao tricked victims into transferring large sums of money to attacker-controlled accounts, claiming that the funds would be invested in digital assets.
From there, co-conspirators in Cambodia transferred the USDT to the leaders of scam centers throughout the region." Victims transferred over $36.9 million, "invested" in the scheme, from U.S.
In these fraud schemes (also known as pig butchering or romance baiting scams), cybercriminals contact targets through social media, dating sites, and messaging apps, build trust, and lure them into fake investment schemes, stealing their money instead of investing the funds as promised.
Overall prevention scores can hide what happens after initial access.
According to the FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report , investment scammers stole over $8.6 billion last year (according to 72,984 complaints), up from $6.5 billion in 2024.
bank accounts to an account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas, which was opened under the name Axis Digital Limited.
What happened
A Chinese national was arraigned in California after being extradited from the Netherlands for his alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency investment scam that stole nearly $37 million from 174 victims in the United States.
The criminal ring Zhao was allegedly part of reached out to targets across the United States via unsolicited text messages, social media, phone calls, and even online dating services to gain their trust, promoting the fraudulent digital asset investments and saying that the victims' funds' value increased, when, in fact, their money was stolen.
What changed
Zhao was charged in August 2025 with conspiracy to commit money laundering and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if found guilty.
The Blue Report 2026 measures defenses technique by technique across 338 million simulations run in customer production environments.
Who is affected
Prosecutors said that, together with accomplices in the United States and Cambodia, 44-year-old Zhen Zhao tricked victims into transferring large sums of money to attacker-controlled accounts, claiming that the funds would be invested in digital assets.
From there, co-conspirators in Cambodia transferred the USDT to the leaders of scam centers throughout the region." Victims transferred over $36.9 million, "invested" in the scheme, from U.S.
Why it matters
In these fraud schemes (also known as pig butchering or romance baiting scams), cybercriminals contact targets through social media, dating sites, and messaging apps, build trust, and lure them into fake investment schemes, stealing their money instead of investing the funds as promised.
Overall prevention scores can hide what happens after initial access.
Attribution
BleepingComputer: A Chinese national was arraigned in California after being extradited from the Netherlands for his alleged involvement in a cryptocurrency investment scam that stole nearly $37 million from 174 victims in the United States.