Ohio Victim Loses $198,232 in Cryptocurrency Scam, DOJ Seeks Forfeiture of Traced Funds

Federal prosecutors have filed a civil forfeiture complaint targeting cryptocurrency traced to a fraud that drained nearly $200,000 from an Ohio man’s retirement savings. An Eastlake resident transferred funds from his retirement account to a local bank and then to Coinbase after an unsolicited caller using the alias “Jake Williams” posed as a trading expert, says the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio. The fraudster gained remote access to the victim’s laptop and moved the money through roughly 60 transfers between December 2025 and March 2026. “During the course of the scheme, the fraudster showed the victim a cryptocurrency wallet—that supposedly belonged to the victim—with a purported value of approximately $860,000, which included the supposed investment gains.

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