Tether News – Tether Freezes $5.2 Million Linked to Phishing Scams, Continuing Vigilance Against Illicit Activity

Tether News – Tether Freezes $5.2 Million Linked to Phishing Scams, Continuing Vigilance Against Illicit Activity

Tether News – Tether, the prominent stablecoin issuer, has recently made headlines for freezing approximately $5.2 million worth of USDT associated with phishing scams. This action, taken on May 14, targeted funds stored across 12 Ethereum wallets flagged under the label “USDT Banned Address.“

According to insights from Slomist, an on-chain analytics firm, these addresses were allegedly involved in laundering proceeds from phishing schemes. However, specific details regarding the nature of these scams remain undisclosed.

This move adds to Tether’s track record of combatting illicit activities within its ecosystem. Since its establishment, the company claims to have frozen over $1.3 billion in assets, with around $1.6 million attributed to suspected terrorist financing.

In recent years, Tether has significantly ramped up its efforts to monitor and mitigate unlawful activities associated with its stablecoin. This includes blacklisting specific Ethereum addresses holding substantial amounts of USDT. Notably, in January 2022, Tether targeted three Ethereum addresses containing over $150 million in USDT, while in October 2022, it froze $8.2 million worth of USDT and added 215 Ethereum addresses to its blacklist.

Tether’s proactive stance extends beyond reactive measures. The company has been actively cooperating with law enforcement agencies worldwide, having collaborated on numerous requests to block suspicious wallets. Over the past year alone, Tether reports having worked on 198 such requests from various authorities, totaling 339 over the last three years.

Moreover, Tether has implemented secondary market controls to prevent transactions involving individuals or entities listed on the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list. This includes individuals affiliated with sanctioned countries.

The utilization of decentralized ledger technology has empowered crypto firms like Tether to monitor on-chain activities effectively. Meanwhile, the centralized nature of stablecoins enables issuers to swiftly freeze assets associated with illicit activities, upon requests from law enforcement.

Despite efforts to shed light on the banned addresses and associated phishing scams, Tether has yet to respond to inquiries from media outlets like Cointelegraph.