US charges six over NFT romance scam tied to 800 victims
US prosecutors charged six Africa-based suspects over an NFT romance scam run from Madagascar compounds, tied to about 800 victims and 74 crypto wallets.
SECURITY & HACKSREGULATIONNEWS
Lukas Brenner
10/29/20261 min read
US prosecutors have charged six Africa-based suspects over a cryptocurrency romance scheme that lured victims on dating sites into fake NFT investment platforms. The FBI linked about 74 crypto wallets to roughly 800 victims across the country, according to the US Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, which announced the case on October 27 together with the District of Alaska.
The alleged leader, Chui Kok Wa, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Prosecutors did not name the other five defendants. According to the office, the group, which has ties to Malaysia and China, set up scam compounds in Madagascar in early 2025, probably after shifting operations from Cambodia following enforcement there.
How the scheme worked
Scammers allegedly posed as attractive women on dating platforms, then talked victims into connecting their crypto wallets to fraudulent NFT sites, pressed them to keep adding money and quietly withdrew funds. Evidence from Wa's phones included work contracts with overnight shifts aligned to US hours, bonuses tied to stolen sums and scripts that described the work as an emotional scam. Stolen funds were moved to crypto accounts linked to China-based actors. The government also unsealed the seizure of websites tied to the scheme.
In August, the FBI helped Madagascar take down 13 compounds and seize more than 3,200 devices, but many suspects were sent back to China before US investigators could finish interviews. US Attorney Jeanine Pirro called on Madagascar to extradite the six defendants. Prosecutors also obtained a material witness warrant to question 15 workers who say Wa trafficked and abused them.
The case was announced as part of an update from the Scam Center Strike Force, launched in November 2025. The office said the unit has restrained more than $1 billion in crypto fraud proceeds in its first year and seized 700 fake investment websites, with voluntary help from firms including Tether, Chainalysis and Elliptic.
Coin Edition noted that the defendants with disclosed nationalities come from Kenya, Uganda, Cameroon and Rwanda. Extradition remains the main obstacle to bringing them before a US court.
Source: US Department of Justice, Coin Edition