Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced Wednesday that his office, working with the FBI, has seized or disrupted 241 scam domains and more than 100 cloud servers that powered a multinational cryptocurrency fraud network draining tens of millions of dollars from Russian-speaking victims across the United States.

The servers, hosted by Eastern European and American companies, held the operation's victim data, site content and operating software, according to the DA's statement. Investigators executed search warrants across three time zones within hours.

"Our groundbreaking Virtual Currency Unit identified the fraud, tracked the stolen cryptocurrency, broke new ground by uncovering the infrastructure behind the operation, and worked with the FBI to dismantle it," Gonzalez said.

How did the scheme operate?

The fraud followed a well-documented playbook. Russian-language investment ads ran on Facebook. A Russian-speaking "advisor" then called victims and walked them through opening accounts on fake crypto platforms and buying digital assets.

Weeks or months later, withdrawals failed. Victims found themselves locked out, or billed bogus "fees" and "taxes." Some lost their life savings.

Then came the second act. Posing as recovery services, the same criminals recontacted victims weeks later, promising to retrieve the stolen money — for a price.

Why target servers instead of domains?

The Brooklyn DA's Virtual Currency Unit had already taken down 400 scam domains in earlier actions. New ones kept appearing, because seizing a domain doesn't touch the machinery behind it.

This operation went upstream. Hitting the servers cuts off the scammers' ability to spin up replacement sites quickly or reach past victims again — an infrastructure-level disruption rather than a whack-a-mole takedown.

"By disrupting more than 100 servers and hundreds of fraudulent websites, we have struck at the heart of this criminal enterprise and made it far harder for these scammers to victimize others," Gonzalez said. "I commend our investigators and thank the FBI for their partnership in this extraordinary operation."

What has been recovered?

The three-year investigation has recovered roughly $300,000 so far, prosecutors said — a small fraction of the tens of millions the scheme allegedly drained. The DA's office says asset-recovery efforts continue.

The operation signals a shift in how local prosecutors pursue crypto fraud: infrastructure seizures, not just indictments. Expect recovery actions and further clawback attempts as the Brooklyn DA works to trace and return stolen funds.