Since July 2022, a global enforcement effort coordinated by European government agencies has worked with entrepreneurs and cryptocurrency companies to stop cross-border crypto fraud. This investigation has also revealed a network of criminal call centers. In late 2022, scammers began concentrating on defrauding cryptocurrency investors, trying to recoup their year-long losses.
Officials from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany and Serbia have been working with Europol and Eurojust, two EU agencies for police cooperation, since June 2022. Both organizations are part of the European Union. The investigation uncovered a criminal organization responsible for causing more than $2.1 million in losses, most of which were suffered by German investors.
How did the fraud happen?
According to Europol, the scammers persuaded their victims to invest in fake cryptocurrency investment websites and programs, some of which originated from Germany, Switzerland, Australia and Canada. This revelation eventually led to the establishment of a task force responsible for conducting investigations across international borders.
Scammers operating out of four contact centers in Eastern Europe convinced potential victims to hand over additional money by assuring them that they would win a lot of money with minimal bets. Given the number of crimes that have not been registered, Europol estimates that the total amount of money lost could be hundreds of millions of euros.
In the investigation, 261 people were questioned, 22 locations in the EU were investigated and 30 people were arrested in total, including two people in Bulgaria, two people in Cyprus, three people in Germany and 214 people in Serbia. Throughout the investigation, wallet hardware, cash, cars, electronic equipment, and documents were also seized.
Crypto Hacks Sullying the Crypto Ecosystem
The crypto community continues a proactive strategy to undermine scammers through bold warning ads, hack prevention patches, and public education, while scammers impersonate government agencies and corporations.
ImmuneFi, a company that specializes in bug bounties and offers security services, was the organization that conducted the study. As discovered, the bitcoin business suffered a total loss of $3.9 billion in 2022.
Hackers were responsible for the loss of the entire lot 95.6% of the time, with fraud, scams and rug thefts accounting for the remaining 4.4% of the loss. Ethereum and BNB Chain were the blockchains with the most significant attacks.
To protect the public and regain investor confidence, Immunefi CEO Mitchell Amador suggested “proactively finding and addressing weaknesses.”
