FBI Seizes $100K In NFTs From Scammer Following ZachXBT Investigation

The Seized property included a Bored Ape Yacht Club and Doodles NFT, 85. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has seized two Nonfungible Tokens worth more than $100,000 and 86.5, ETH.

The alleged scammer in question, Chase Senecal — known as Ghastliness (HZ) on the web — was initially uncovered via a lengthy investigation by independent blockchain detective ZachXBT posted back in September.

In the FBI’s official notification posted on Feb. 3, it outlined that Seneca’s property — which also included an Audemars Piguet (AP) Illustrious Oak Watch worth $41,000 — was “seized for federal forfeiture for violation of federal regulation.”

The FBI’s notification didn’t detail a lot other information on the ordeal apart from noticing that the property was all seized on Oct. 24.At the hour of seizure, the Bored Ape Yacht Club was valued at $9,361 and the NFTs were worth over $100,000.

The 86.5 ETH was valued at $116,433 at the hour of seizure, yet is now worth $144,000 at the hour of writing.

It’s not clear what the full scope of legal proceedings that have taken place against Senecal are.However, according to the FBI’s policing, federal forfeiture is a policing that enables the government to “remove — without compensation for the individual — responsibility for involved in a wrongdoing.”

“It may happen in a common procedure, similar to a lawsuit against the thing, or after the conviction of an individual in a criminal trial,” the FBI states.

While the FBI has not come out with an official tip of the hat to ZachXBT, the on-chain detective noted via Twitter on Feb. 3 that the property seizure came “subsequently” of his investigation.
“I anticipate hopefully seeing additional phishing scammers face the same outcome coming down the line for harming so many people here,” ZachXBT wrote.
With the capture of a Bored Ape NFT, people in the community have kidded that the FBI will change its profile picture to Ape #9658.

2/ HZ was responsible for using a Twitter panel to take over accounts like @Zeneca @nounsdao @ezu_xyz @deekaymotion @JRNYclub as well as Discord server attacks @AnataNFT @Lacoste

The thread which started it all I’ve attached below. https://t.co/6dsfZ5jnGl pic.twitter.com/8EYl1yuIik

— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) February 3, 2023

The AP watch was one of the key identifications that helped uncover the identity and on-chain activity of Senecal.

In a medium post from Sept. 2, ZachXBT explained that after seeing Horroz (HZ) boast about the new watch on social media, he asked “around a couple of shared friends who sell watches” and eventually managed to reach out to the person who sold that specific AP watch to Senecal.

The payment was said to have been made via the use of USD Coin.

“The address HZ used to pay the watch seller $47.5k was Straightforwardly funded by multiple addresses used to scam people with hacked Twitter accounts like @deekaymotion, @Zeneca_33, @ezu_xyz, [and] @JRNYclub,” ZachXBT wrote.”

This isn’t the first time ZachXBT’s research has played a vital role in aiding government authorities. In October, France’s national digital unit cited ZachXBT’s work in aiding it catch and charge a group of alleged fraudsters on doubt of taking $2.5 million worth of NFTs via phishing scams.