The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration lost more than $50,000

According to a Forbes report on August 50, the US Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) unknowingly sent over $24,000 in USDT Tether to a crypto scammer.

The scammer tricked the DEA into sending 55,000 USDT to their wallet instead of the address of the US Marshal the funds were intended for.

In May, the DEA confiscated $500,000 from two Binance accounts, according to the report. The funds were linked to drug proceeds and confiscated and moved to secure addresses under his control.

However, the scam occurred when he tried to transfer funds to the U.S. Marshal, the agency responsible for holding and selling all cryptocurrency proceeds confiscated by the US government.

Prior to the significant transfer, the DEA conducted a trial transaction of $45.36 to a US Marshals Service address. According to Forbes, upon discovering this transaction, the scammer quickly generated an address that closely resembled that of the US agency. This misleading address had an identical initial five characters and a last four characters with the address of a lawful US marshal.

The scammer then launched an unnamed token to the DEA address, making it appear that the marshal's address returned the funds. The agency fell for the ruse by sending more than 55,000 USDT to the wallet.

The US Marshals quickly notified the error and alerted the DEA, but it was too late to return the funds as the scammer had already converted them into Ethereum (ETH) and Bitcoin (BTC). This meant that Tether could not freeze the funds.

However, FBI and DEA investigators are still tracking the funds and have traced the address to two Binance addresses.

Law enforcement has now contacted Google with a search warrant, hoping to obtain information about the Gmail addresses associated with the account.

Forbes reported that none of the federal agencies involved in the case commented on their investigations. But the scammer, if identified, will most likely face prosecution.