DOJ’s Seizure of tickmilleas.com

On December 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice seized the domain tickmilleas.com, which investigators tied to a scam compound operating out of Burma. These scam centers are part of a growing network in Southeast Asia that relies heavily on USDT on the TRON (TRX) network to move money quickly and anonymously.

The Government’s complaint for forfeiture alleges that the Tai Chang scam compound (also known as Casino Kosai) was located in the village of Kyaukhat, Burma. This seizure comes shortly after the seizure of two other domains used by the Tai Chang scam compound as part of CIF scams.

CIF scams often begin begin with unsolicited outreach from strangers over dating applications, social media, messaging applications, and text messages. These strangers eventually convince the victim to to make purported “investments” in cryptocurrency, but direct them to applications that appear legitimate on fraudulent domains.

• their exchange account is frozen

• their USDT is frozen

• their TRON wallet is flagged

• a withdrawal fails without explanation

• they receive a seizure notice from DEA, FBI, or HSI

If that happened to you around the time tickmilleas.com went offline, you might be caught up in the enforcement dragnet even though you didn’t do anything wrong.

Attorneys for Innocent Owners After Domain Takedown

The cryptocurrency attorneys at Sammis Law Firm in Tampa, FL, can help you gather the appropriate records including your wallet histories, transaction IDs, exchange logs, screenshots of compliance messages, and any correspondence with support.

If you received a seizure notice, the 35-day deadline to file a verified claim is unforgiving. Missing a deadline makes it harder to get your property back.

We can help you show tracing problems to challenge the alleged nexus between the criminal conduct and your wallet.

To show that you are an innocent owner, we can talk with DOJ attorneys about information you decide to show, including bank records, purchase histories, business documentation, and earnings records.

How Takedowns Impact Innocent Owners

When DOJ seizes a scam domain, blockchain-analysis companies immediately expand their tracing rules. They label clusters of wallets as “high risk,” often sweeping in people who never visited the site or had any connection to the scam.

Here’s how it happens:

1. Scam operators send or receive USDT through Wallet A

2. Wallet A sends funds to Wallet B

3. Wallet B interacts with Wallet C

4. Wallet C belongs to an ordinary user who bought USDT or completed a trade

Wallet C is now treated as part of the “risk cluster,” even though the person behind Wallet C is completely innocent. Exchanges respond by freezing accounts or blocking withdrawals while they “review activity.”

We see this pattern over and over, particularly with TRON because the fees are low and the scammers use it heavily.

USDT on TRON: A High-Risk Network for False Flags

Most of the pig-butchering operations, including the ones tied to Burma and Cambodia, use USDT (TRC-20) for fast, cheap transfers. Because these networks are so active, and because the same scam wallets touch thousands of others, innocent people get swept in simply for being downstream.

You may have been:

• paid by someone who unknowingly received tainted funds

• using an OTC desk

• receiving USDT for business purposes

• swapping tokens through a liquidity pool

• performing a routine P2P transfer

None of that is illegal. None of it means you were involved in a scam. But after the domain went down, your wallet may have been flagged anyway.

What Happens After a Wallet or Exchange Freeze

After a domain seizure, it’s common to see:

• Binance or Coinbase freeze a user’s account

• Tether blacklist a TRC-20 address

• withdrawals blocked “due to risk concerns”

• sudden requests for “source of funds”

• or a formal law enforcement hold placed by DEA, FBI, or HSI

The freeze is usually based on cluster tracing—not evidence of wrongdoing. If the government believes your wallet is “associated” with a scam compound, they may:

• open an administrative forfeiture case

• seize funds directly from an exchange

• send you a notice explaining the 35-day CAFRA deadline to file a claim

Missing that deadline can cause you to lose the crypto permanently or making getting it back more difficult.

How Innocent Owners Get Their Crypto Back?

Federal law recognizes an innocent-owner defense under 18 U.S.C. § 983. If your money came from a legitimate source and you had no knowledge of the alleged illegal conduct, you can demand that the government return it.

Most people caught in these sweeps fall into one of these categories:

• they were victims of a scam

• they traded with or transacted through someone who unknowingly touched a flagged wallet

• they used an OTC desk or liquidity pool

• they received USDT from a source they assumed was legitimate

• they had no idea the funds were connected in any way to a scam compound

These are exactly the types of cases Congress intended to protect with the innocent-owner rule.

We Represent Innocent Crypto Owners

If your USDT, BTC, ETH, or any other cryptocurrency was frozen or seized after DOJ took down tickmilleas.com, you are not alone. These cases are becoming more common, especially for people using the TRON network.

The cryprocurrency attorneys at Sammis Law Firm represent clients across the county for:

• frozen exchange accounts

• Tether freezes

• administrative seizure notices

• DEA, FBI, HSI, and Secret Service forfeiture cases

• challenges under 18 U.S.C. § 981 and § 983

• disputes about TRON/USDT tracing and risk clusters

• innocent-owner claims in federal court.

You do not need to be charged with a crime to fight the seizure. Most clients are never accused of wrongdoing at all. We help innocent owners fight for the return of their crypto after federal agencies cast the net too wide.

For more information, call 813-250-0500.