Sarah Wong
FORMER FBI INTELLIGENCE ANALYST, BLOCKCHAIN INVESTIGATIONS, TESTIFYING EXPERT
Sarah K. Wong is a blockchain expert and former intelligence analyst with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) Virtual Assets Unit (VAU). Sarah has extensive experience supporting criminal and national security investigations with blockchain analytics, open-source intelligence research, and asset tracing involving a range of blockchains and crypto assets. In addition to her investigative work, Sarah has written strategic intelligence products identifying trends and newly emerging tactics in the crypto ecosystem to inform the US Intelligence Community and US Government executives.
During her time with the FBI’s VAU, Sarah specialized in cryptocurrency investigations, using her knowledge and experience to trace cryptocurrency tied to money laundering, theft, and fraud cases. Sarah helped case teams secure indictments and convictions and effectuate seizures and forfeitures, including a seizure of more than $6 million worth of cryptocurrency. Sarah also assisted the VAU in creating a national strategy for investigating “pig butchering” cryptocurrency investment fraud. She helped develop strategies for tracing scam proceeds for seizure and forfeiture and coordinated among investigators working related cases nationwide. By mapping financial flows and gaining deep familiarity with the money laundering trends and patterns of different scam groups, Sarah helped case teams deconflict and efficiently collaborate to disrupt organized scam groups and return stolen funds to victims.
Sarah has also investigated a wide range of cryptocurrency-enabled crime, including cryptocurrency thefts and fraud; North Korean malicious cyber actors and IT workers; ransomware; and international terror and counterintelligence threats. Sarah also has substantial experience supporting the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) capacity-building initiatives both domestically and overseas. Sarah has trained law enforcement personnel and prosecutors on how criminals use cryptocurrency, best practices for tracing digital assets, and proper methods for conducting investigations and documenting and collecting evidence.
After leaving the FBI, Sarah worked as an investigator for a major US-based cryptocurrency exchange. Her efforts focused on detecting money laundering and other illicit activities and training and advising compliance
EDUCATION
B.S. INFORMATION SYSTEMS SECURITY - Columbia Southern University, 2018
B.A. PSYCHOLOGY - San Diego State University, 2006