BOSTON — Federal prosecutors in Boston have filed a civil forfeiture action seeking to recover 456,602 Tether, a cryptocurrency, that they say came from romance fraud schemes targeting people in Massachusetts and elsewhere, the U.S. attorney's office for the District of Massachusetts said Monday.

The cryptocurrency has an estimated value of about $456,602, prosecutors said.

According to the complaint, the scammers met victims on online dating sites and Facebook and built relationships of trust with them before introducing them to cryptocurrency and encouraging them to invest on fake cryptocurrency platforms.

Victims believed they were sending money to a legitimate investment platform and earning profits, prosecutors said. Instead, the money went to private cryptocurrency wallets that are not held on an exchange. Victims realized it was a scam when they tried to withdraw their money and could not, even after paying more for what were described as fees and taxes, the complaint says.

The money was traced to two cryptocurrency wallets and seized, prosecutors said.

A civil forfeiture action allows third parties to make claims to the property, and those claims must be resolved before it can be forfeited to the United States and returned to victims, prosecutors said. The details in the complaint are allegations. The office did not identify anyone accused of carrying out the schemes.

U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley's office said the case is one of several civil forfeiture actions it has filed to recover cryptocurrency traced to fraud schemes targeting Massachusetts victims. The FBI's Boston field office joined in the announcement.

People who believe they are victims of a cybercrime, including cryptocurrency, tech support, investment or business email compromise scams, can contact the U.S. attorney's office at USAMA.CyberTip@usdoj.gov.

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