A global law enforcement campaign by US, UK, and Canadian agencies has revealed that over US$45 million were swindled from victims internationally through fraud schemes.
During a week-long campaign, Operation Atlantic investigators discovered over 20,000 cryptocurrency wallet addresses tied to fraud victims in over 30 countries. The campaign froze US$12 million in fraudulent losses taken from victims’ wallets; the funds will be returned to the victims.
The Ontario Securities Commission partnered with the Ontario Provincial Police, the US Secret Service, and the UK National Crime Agency. Also pitching in were the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the City of London Police, the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the UK Financial Conduct Authority, and private industry partners.
The campaign concentrated on identifying and contacting victims who unwittingly allowed fraudsters access to their cryptocurrency accounts via “approval phishing” schemes. A supposedly trustworthy app or service typically connected to cryptocurrency investment is used to send victims pop-ups or alerts that they must “approve.” Once done, cybercriminals seize control of the crypto wallet in question to transfer funds in irreversible transactions.
Operation Atlantic unmasked and blocked over 120 web domains scammers used in international fraud schemes.
“Operation Atlantic demonstrated the importance and need for international collaboration to stop cryptocurrency fraud. 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,” said Brent Daniels, assistant director for the US Secret Service’s Office of Field Operations, in a statement.
Investigators will further examine another US$33 million that may be connected to investment fraud schemes.
“The results from Operation Atlantic underscore the strong and ongoing commitment to capital markets enforcement and investor protection shared by the Ontario Securities Commission and our international partners,” said Bonnie Lysyk, OSC’s executive vice president of enforcement. “We will continue to pursue bad actors, deepen cross‑border collaboration, and apply advanced enforcement techniques to identify and disrupt crypto‑enabled fraud.”
Operation Atlantic was announced last month.