An international law enforcement initiative involving the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), US Secret Service, Ontario Provincial Police and Ontario Securities Commission is disrupting crypto schemes worldwide.
In a statement, the blockchain intelligence platform TRM Labs says it served as a private sector partner in the phishing crackdown, with “Operation Atlantic” freezing more than $12 million in suspected illicit proceeds.
The initiative also identified over $45 million in fraud schemes globally and more than 20,000 victims across the UK, Canada and the US.
Operation Atlantic used blockchain analytics, intelligence sharing and victim outreach to identify and act on approval phishing scams, a form of cryptocurrency fraud that manipulates victims into signing blockchain transactions that give scammers control over their wallet.
Traditional phishing involves stealing login credentials. In approval phishing, the perpetrators trick their victims into giving them permission to access and steal funds from their wallet. Fraudsters often carry out this scheme through pig butchering and investment scams, grooming their victims over weeks or months before directing them to a malicious site.
Says NCA Deputy Director of Investigations Miles Bonfield,
“Operational Atlantic is a powerful example of what is possible when international agencies and private industry work side by side. This intensive action has led to the safeguarding of thousands of victims in the UK and overseas, stopped criminals in their tracks and helped save others from losing their funds.”
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