Cryptocurrency Fraud Case Record

ChainCatcher news, according to the Straits Times, Singapore's Minister of State for Home Affairs Sun Xuelin stated that last year, cryptocurrency scams accounted for a quarter of the total losses from fraud. In the highest-value scam case last year, the victim clicked on a fake meeting link, downloaded and ran malicious code on their computer, resulting in a loss of approximately 125 million Singapore dollars.Sun Xuelin mentioned that, in addition to malware, scammers also design fake websites, send phishing links, or use "pump and dump" tactics to inflate the prices of memecoins before causing them to plummet. "Our advice to the public is to stay away from cryptocurrencies. The risk of being 'burned' is very high, and if you become a victim of a scam, the chance of recovering even a cent is very slim."

ChainCatcher news, according to Bitcoin.com, Las Vegas businessman Brent C. Kovar has been sued for allegedly operating a cryptocurrency mining Ponzi scheme through the Profit Connect project, facing up to 330 years in prison.It is reported that Kovar promised investors that his platform offered "AI-driven" cryptocurrency mining services and claimed to provide fixed returns of 15% to 30%, guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). However, investigations revealed that Kovar did not engage in actual mining operations but instead used the funds of over 400 investors for personal luxury expenses and to pay returns to early investors, with the amount involved reaching $24 million.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, based on a report from the crypto intelligence platform Merkle Science, in 2024, losses exceeded $500 million due to the crash of Meme coins and scams.The report from Merkle Science revealed that 75% of attacks occurred on the X platform, while 19% took place on YouTube. 44% of reported social engineering scams led to the crash of Meme coins, and phishing attacks were also considered a factor in 44% of all scam cases.

ChainCatcher news, according to CryptoDnes, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of Nigeria has dismantled a cryptocurrency scam gang, arresting 53 individuals suspected of cyber crimes, including identity theft and fraud.Currently, authorities have recovered approximately $200,000 in assets, but investigations indicate that deposits related to the operation could be as high as $3 million.

ChainCatcher news, according to Caixin reports, former deputy director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Financial Supervision and Administration, Hao Gang, was sentenced to 11 years in the first instance.Hao Gang was involved in Bitcoin money laundering and had assisted executives of a leading Bitcoin mining company in lifting travel restrictions, with the amount of bribes possibly reaching tens of millions. Hao Gang previously served as the director of the Financial Risk Management Department of the Beijing Financial Bureau and became a member of the Party Leadership Group and deputy director of the Beijing Financial Bureau in August 2019, overseeing the risk sector, until he was investigated in April 2023 for suspected serious violations of discipline and law.

ChainCatcher news, according to a report by Hong Kong media Wen Wei Po, the cybersecurity report shows that there are currently 2,650 counterfeit DeepSeek websites and phishing sites, and this number is still rapidly increasing. Users need to be highly vigilant, as the main uses of these counterfeit domains are phishing fraud, domain squatting, and traffic diversion. Phishing fraud is primarily carried out by stealing user login credentials, misleading users through similar domain names and interfaces, and tricking users into purchasing virtual assets.Statistics show that large-scale registration activities of counterfeit DeepSeek domains began on January 26, 2025, peaking on January 28. Although the growth rate has since decreased, the number continues to rise.In addition, 60% of these counterfeit domains resolve to IP addresses located in the United States. Scammers have also launched various so-called "DeepSeek-enhanced" high-end features of air coins (virtual currencies with no substantive value), and there are even websites claiming to sell original shares of DeepSeek, which could lead to significant financial losses for users.

ChainCatcher news, the South Korean police recently arrested 90 Vietnamese suspects for allegedly using cryptocurrency to sell drugs in various bars and clubs across the country. The police stated that these suspects smuggled drugs into the country by disguising them as coffee and vitamin packages, and distributed them in Vietnamese-operated bars and clubs in multiple cities.The police initially estimated that the gang smuggled drugs worth 1.04 billion won (approximately 721,000 USD), of which about 710 million won (nearly 500,000 USD) has been successfully sold. Some suspects are illegal residents, and currently, 18 suspects have been detained, with the case still under further investigation.

According to ChainCatcher news, the Suqian Court's official WeChat account disclosed a case of online pyramid scheme disguised as an investment in virtual currency financial projects. The criminal suspects created the "ACORNS" online platform, and without any actual business operations, they issued virtual currencies such as "ACO" and promoted these currencies as a means to participate in financial management for high returns. They required members to pay 100 USDT as a threshold to obtain static income. By the time the case was reported, the platform had over three thousand active members and had accumulated nearly 3.16 million USDT in funds.After hearing the case, the Suqian Court sentenced the defendants to prison terms ranging from five years and three months to three years for organizing and leading pyramid scheme activities, and imposed fines ranging from 170,000 to 100,000 yuan.

ChainCatcher news, a woman in her 40s was arrested by the police for stealing another person's phone and embezzling virtual currency worth approximately 700 million Korean won.The suspect stole the phone of a man she met in a public social networking (SNS) chat room in Jeju City, and then used personal information obtained in advance to transfer the virtual currency into her own account. The police launched an investigation based on the victim's report and successfully arrested the suspect in an emergency in Gimcheon, North Gyeongsang Province. The suspect confessed that she planned this crime to repay her debts.

ChainCatcher news, scammers have stolen $2.2 million worth of cryptocurrency from New Yorkers through a new job scam. The suspects claimed via text messages to help find remote work and asked job seekers to deposit dollars into cryptocurrency accounts. Victims were told to purchase cryptocurrency on legitimate platforms (such as Coinbase, Gemini) and then transfer it to an unmanaged digital wallet.New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit to recover the frozen cryptocurrency and hold the scammers accountable. Investigations show that this scam spans multiple jurisdictions, with victims primarily being individuals eager to find remote work.