Stake.com Cited as DOJ Seeks $5 Million Bitcoin Seizure in SIM Swap Case
According to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), over $5 million worth of Bitcoin should be seized because it was obtained through SIM-swapping assaults. US officials claim that after stealing the money from victims' cryptocurrency wallets, scammers laundered it through cryptocurrency casino accounts, including those linked to Stake.com.
A civil forfeiture case claims that the scheme targeted five US residents between October 29, 2022, and March 31, 2023. The scammers were successful in convincing telecom firms to give them control of the victims' phone numbers, which is common in SIM swapping schemes.
This gave the scammers access to the victims' cryptocurrency accounts by allowing them to intercept authentication codes issued to those numbers.
After that, they transferred the pilfered Bitcoin between several intermediary addresses before combining it into a single wallet. The complaint claims that same wallet was subsequently used to fund an account on Stake.com and other casinos.
Payments in a Circle
According to the DOJ, for a brief period between March 20 and 22, 2023, there were at least 32 circular transactions—repeated deposits and withdrawals of the same Bitcoin—that were meant to conceal ownership and origin.
Because online casinos and frequent circular transactions occasionally lack the regulatory transparency and AML (anti-money laundering) procedures of traditional banking or financial institutions, attackers can make tracing challenging.
The DOJ would be able to legally possess the confiscated Bitcoin and possibly reimburse the victims if the forfeiture was approved. Although Stake.com is mentioned in the complaint as one of the gaming platforms used to launder the money, it is not charged with any crime; however, the DOJ relies heavily on its account activity to track down the stolen assets.
Regulators are increasingly utilizing blockchain analytics and civil forfeiture to recover stolen digital assets as cryptocurrency becomes more integrated into financial systems.
The Increase in SIM Swapping
SIM-swapping attacks have become a chronic and worldwide menace, according to reports from law enforcement and fraud-tracking organizations.
FBI data shows the scope of the issue in the United States. Nearly $26 million in losses and over 1,000 complaints were made in 2024. That was after about $50 million was stolen in 2023, which had an equally high number of instances.
Unauthorized SIM swaps increased by 1,055% in the UK between 2023 and 2024, according to fraud prevention provider Cifas, which has experienced an even more pronounced increase.
Given that many victims never report their losses, analysts warn that these numbers may still underestimate the actual scope of the scam.
