A multi-national effort, Operation Atlantic, has identified more than $45 million (US) in cryptocurrency fraud schemes around the world, the U.S. Secret Service said recently.
The law enforcement effort carried out with agencies in the U.S., United Kingdom and Canada identified and contacted victims who had unknowingly provided cybercriminals with access to their cryptocurrency accounts through “approval phishing” scams.
“Operation Atlantic demonstrated the importance and need for international collaboration to stop cryptocurrency fraud,” Brent Daniels, the Assistant Director for the U.S. Secret Service’s Office of Field Operations said. “Through this operation, investigators prevented millions of dollars in fraud losses and disrupted millions more in fraudulent transactions denying criminals the ability to prey on innocent victims. I am extremely proud of the hard work of everyone involved during this operation.”
Investigators were also able to identify more than 20,000 cryptocurrency wallet addresses linked to fraud victims across more than 30 countries, including the United States, U.K. and Canada. Some of the funds originally taken from victim’s accounts, $12 million in cryptocurrency in the fraudsters’ accounts, was frozen with the goal of returning those funds to victims. Investigators identified an additional $33 million that was believed to be linked to investment fraud schemes. Those activities will be investigated further, officials said.
Operation Atlantic was primarily concerned with identifying victims who may have lost, or are at risk of losing, crypto assets through approval phishing. In those schemes, fraudsters trick victims into granting full access to their cryptocurrency wallets. The operation identified and directly contacted more than 3,000 victims, officials said. The operation was carried out by the U.S. Secret Service, the UK’s National Crime Agency, the Ontario Provincial Police, and the Ontario Securities Commission, as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the City of London Police, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.