fraud

According to The Block, the Singapore Police Force stated that they successfully prevented $17.4 million in fraud losses in a joint operation with cryptocurrency exchanges.The police utilized blockchain analysis and customer data from platforms such as Coinbase and OKX to identify over 383 victims. Intelligence shared with the FBI, New South Wales Police Force, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre also helped identify 32 foreign victims.

According to Hongxing News, the individual involved in the incident of "Tsinghua graduates studying at University College London (UCL) being scammed" revealed that he was scammed for nearly 45 days. On the day he arrived in the UK and checked into his dormitory, he received a call from a number displayed as "Embassy," claiming that his phone number had sent a large number of harassment and fraud messages, and transferred him to so-called "cyber police." The caller accurately reported his personal information, requested him to download video software, and displayed materials such as police identification, arrest warrants, and confessions.Several "cyber police" bombarded him with information for more than three hours while he was still adjusting to the time difference and was physically and mentally exhausted, causing him to lose his judgment. Subsequently, the so-called "Interpol" led him to mistakenly believe he was assisting in an investigation into an international money laundering case and made him sign a so-called confidentiality document. For the first two weeks, they continued to strengthen control, requiring him to maintain a phone call 24 hours a day and turn on video for online monitoring, while also restricting his social interactions under the guise of investigation confidentiality.They ultimately induced him to purchase digital currency and transfer it to a designated account, and even made him deceive his family into transferring money for the so-called case, claiming it would be returned after the case was closed. He was also coerced into downloading foreign encrypted chat software to register an account for purchasing virtual currency. After returning to his home country, he discovered that during the period he was out of contact, the scammers had used his credit card to purchase tickets to other destinations. He reminded the public to pay more attention to anti-fraud campaigns, as scammers exploit time differences and information gaps to set traps.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released a new report titled "Combating the Full Chain of Illegal Fund Flows Related to Scam Hubs," calling on countries to take globally coordinated action to dismantle scam parks and their criminal networks.The report points out that criminals use channels such as cash, virtual assets, and instant payment platforms to launder money, and leverage AI, deep forgery, and automation technologies to scale up their operations. Among these, virtual assets have become the core channel for money laundering; in some cases, scam hubs even have dedicated over-the-counter trading counters for handling virtual asset exchanges and domestic fund transfers.In one case, blockchain analysis revealed that the total amount of funds sent in by victims exceeded $100 million, ultimately flowing into a cluster of virtual asset wallets associated with a particular scam hub.To address this, the FATF proposed six core principles, including focusing on a broader criminal ecosystem, end-to-end disruption of illegal fund flows, enhancing interdepartmental information sharing and cooperation, rapid cross-border action (especially within 24-72 hours after an incident), a victim-centered approach, and continuously adapting to changes in criminal methods.

According to the New Straits Times citing Bernama, Malaysian police dismantled a gang suspected of conducting romance scams and fraudulent cryptocurrency exchange schemes in Malacca on November 4, arresting 13 suspects aged between 24 and 36.The police stated that the gang contacted Chinese victims through applications such as Telegram, QQ, and Soul, luring them into transferring money to participate in fake cryptocurrency transactions with promises of emotional relationships and high returns. They began operating at the location involved about three months ago. The total losses incurred by the victims are still under investigation, and the police have seized 12 laptops, 1 desktop computer, and 26 mobile phones among other devices.

According to French media Cryptoast, France's Crédit Mutuel Arkéa has confirmed that it was attacked, and someone used this to conduct fraudulent transactions. The bank stated that the incident has been brought under control, and customers have not suffered any financial losses, but the amount of the losses has not been disclosed.Earlier reports indicated that analysts pointed out that the online banking service Fortuneo under the group may have suffered fraud losses exceeding 133 million dollars, with funds being laundered through cryptocurrency channels.

French crypto journalist and co-founder of The Big Whale, Grégory Raymond, stated that the French cooperative bank Crédit Mutuel Arkéa suffered at least $133 million in fraud, with funds being transferred to a crypto trading platform and then moved. This information was disclosed overnight by on-chain investigator ZachXBT, and Raymond indicated that he had been following the matter since the previous day.Raymond cited sources close to the case, stating that the transferred assets were not crypto assets directly held by the bank, but rather fiat currency, which was then converted into crypto assets for transfer. The source described this method as unprecedented and characterized it as an organized network relying on a large number of mule accounts, with funds flowing to multiple trading platform accounts, including Crypto.com. Raymond contacted the bank around 6 PM Paris time the previous evening, and they responded that they could not confirm the relevant information at this stage and did not provide further comments.According to the anonymous source, Arkéa realized its involvement later and was unprepared to respond. Raymond wrote that due to the bank's lack of official confirmation, the trading platforms and stablecoin issuers failed to freeze the funds in time. ZachXBT pointed out on Sunday that an unnamed European entity had transferred over $106 million in USDC and USDT, and on Tuesday raised the estimated amount to $133 million, with some transfers occurring after the initial warning. ZachXBT expressed high confidence in ruling out the involvement of North Korea's Lazarus group and estimated that if the incident had been reported quickly, over $30 million could have been frozen.

According to a report by Agence France-Presse, the Ministry of Justice of Madagascar, an East African country, stated that 148 Chinese citizens involved in online romance, cryptocurrency, and fraudulent investment scams in the country have been extradited back to China.Earlier reports indicated that Madagascar conducted a series of raids from August to September this year, successfully dismantling 13 telecom fraud parks operated by Chinese citizens. During a single day of operations, cryptocurrencies worth up to 52 million USD (approximately 346 million RMB) were seized, along with over 3,200 electronic devices.

According to a report by 2424.mg, 49 Chinese citizens convicted of cryptocurrency network fraud in Madagascar were transferred to China to continue serving their sentences on October 26, including 40 men and 9 women. Since September, Madagascar has transferred a total of 148 individuals.Previously, Madagascar conducted a series of raids from August to September this year, successfully dismantling 13 fraud operations run by Chinese citizens. In a single day of action, approximately 52 million dollars worth of cryptocurrency was seized, along with over 3,200 electronic devices, and nearly 400 individuals involved in the case were arrested.

According to the official account of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, a recent case involving U Coin fraud was heard in Xuzhou, Jiangsu, where Wang and others defrauded the victim, Xiao, of 1.2 million yuan under the pretense of purchasing U Coin. The case was initially transferred for prosecution on suspicion of robbery, but the procuratorial authority believed that Wang and others had meticulously set a trap, using false transactions as bait to essentially defraud the victim of U Coin, which constituted fraud. Therefore, they filed a public prosecution with the court.During the trial, the defense attorney presented arguments that the defendants constituted contract fraud. Whether the case is classified as fraud or contract fraud will result in significant differences in sentencing. The prosecutor pointed out that the criminal law stipulates that contract fraud is aimed at maintaining market order, and the contract content must reflect the attributes of a socialist market economy. Virtual currency transactions are illegal financial activities explicitly prohibited by the state and do not fall within the regulatory scope of contract fraud.

According to CBC, a federal judge in Miami, USA, sentenced 20-year-old Canadian man Trenton Johnston to 25 months in prison. Previously, he admitted to participating in a money laundering conspiracy and surrendered approximately 3.8 million dollars worth of stolen cryptocurrency.Johnston began his crimes in January 2024, impersonating Google technical support and representatives from cryptocurrency companies to trick victims into providing wallet access codes. In one case, he and an accomplice defrauded a victim in California of 185 bitcoins (worth about 13 million dollars at the time). He then used the stolen funds to purchase luxury items such as a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, two BMWs, jewelry, and private jet rentals. Johnston has agreed to be deported back to Canada and is still facing drug possession charges in Florida.

The criminal case involving Aiden Pleterski, who claims to be the "King of Crypto" in Canada, related to a Ponzi scheme involving digital assets, will be submitted to the jury for deliberation after closing arguments this week. Presiding Judge Shaun Nakatsuru has given the jury final instructions, and the jury is set to begin deliberations on Thursday. Pleterski is accused of defrauding approximately $30 million from fans on social media between 2021 and 2022, and was charged with fraud in 2024, subsequently awaiting trial for over two years.In his closing arguments, Pleterski declared his innocence. He stated, "I am not guilty of these charges, which is why I am not pleading guilty. This would have been proven if I had not been forced to represent myself. That's all I have to say." Due to his choice to represent himself, he is acting on his own behalf in court. If convicted of fraud, he faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.In another criminal case, five men are charged with kidnapping and torturing Pleterski in 2022, some of whom are reportedly victims of his scheme. Defendant Deren Akyeam-Pong has pleaded guilty to nine charges and is awaiting sentencing. Pleterski is one of several figures in the crypto industry facing fraud charges; former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted in 2023 and is serving a 25-year sentence in the United States.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against 10 individuals and 1 entity. These targets are involved in North Korean IT workers defrauding U.S. companies, with the proceeds used for North Korea's weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programs.The sanctioned Russian national Ilya Boykov has exchanged approximately 3.5 million dollars in cryptocurrency for the North Korean company Alis since 2024. The Russian national Vitold Obertas has completed nearly 2 million dollars in cryptocurrency exchanges for North Korean officials since January 2025.Also sanctioned is the entity FFTDC, controlled by North Korea and based in Russia, along with its 6 IT workers, who have generated over 750,000 dollars since 2025. Australia and the European Union have also taken similar sanction actions this month.

According to Bitcoin News monitoring, Electrum released version 4.8.3 on October 24, 2026, fixing a security vulnerability that had been used in real attacks.Malicious servers can present users with forged transactions and induce them to sign transactions that pay the attacker's address when users attempt to accelerate transactions with a replacement fee (RBF); attackers do not need to obtain the user's private key. Electrum stated that it has received two related reports, one of which involved a user losing Bitcoin after increasing the transaction fee, and advised users to update to version 4.8.3.

The U.S. prosecution has charged 6 members of a gang suspected of stealing from Madagascar NFT wallets. The FBI estimates that 74 victim wallets have lost at least $516,700.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority issued a notice disclosing that it has received a large number of public inquiries regarding fraudulent activities involving counterfeit digital Hong Kong dollar projects. The related scam agreements claim to convert loans into digital Hong Kong dollar assets, deceiving the public into signing agreements. The Monetary Authority sternly clarifies that the related fraudulent agreements and lending projects have absolutely no connection with the Monetary Authority and emphasizes that it will not contact citizens regarding personal financial matters or conduct fund transfers.All institutions participating in the "Digital Hong Kong Dollar" pilot program and other sandbox programs under the Monetary Authority will not raise funds from the public or provide financial management and investment products in the name of the related programs. The Monetary Authority has reported the incident to the Hong Kong Police and reminds the public to verify relevant information through the Monetary Authority's official website. If personal information has been provided to suspicious websites or applications, or if there is a suspicion of being deceived, one should immediately contact the police or the Information Center of the Criminal Headquarters of the Hong Kong Police Force.

According to Tech in Asia, the Indian cryptocurrency trading platform CoinSwitch launched the SafeSwitch anti-fraud program on October 26, which aims to raise users' awareness of online fraud through a fraud identification quiz, website security check tools, and reporting guidelines.The program includes a fraud identification quiz with 10 questions, information about India's online fraud reporting hotline 1930, and tools to assist in checking websites. CoinSwitch emphasizes that the website check tools only provide additional safety references and do not guarantee absolute website security.

According to Bitcoin.com News, Timothy Wadsworth, a man from Rochester, New York, was sentenced to 51 months in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering, and was ordered to pay approximately $810,000 in restitution.The U.S. Department of Justice stated that between March and May 2020, Wadsworth initiated 310 unauthorized payments totaling approximately $1.6736 million using account information provided by accomplices through the payment service provider Stripe, of which 116 transactions were successful, amounting to approximately $730,700. He then transferred some of the funds to bank accounts under his control and purchased Bitcoin through Coinbase, which he then transferred to his accomplices.

Chinese national Zheng Zhao was extradited from the Netherlands to the United States and appeared in court on October 23 in the Central District of California. He is suspected of participating in an investment fraud and money laundering case involving 174 American victims, with funds exceeding $36.9 million.The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) stated that the fraudulent activities were operated by a scam center in Cambodia. Prosecutors claimed that over $36.9 million was transferred into an account at Deltec Bank in the Bahamas controlled by accomplices, and then exchanged for the stablecoin USDT and transferred to a digital asset wallet in Cambodia. Eight other co-defendants have pleaded guilty; Zheng Zhao faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which could result in a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison if convicted.

According to a notice from the U.S. Department of Justice, a Chinese citizen has been extradited for allegedly participating in a cryptocurrency fraud case targeting U.S. citizens, with the amount involved reaching millions of dollars. The man appeared in court for the first time after being extradited back to the U.S. from the Netherlands, where he is charged with participating in an international cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme.The scheme was carried out by a fraud operation located in Cambodia, with victims including 174 identified U.S. citizens. The man has been ordered to be detained; his formal arraignment is scheduled for November 30 at the federal district court in downtown Los Angeles.

Recently, the Qingshanqiao Police Station of the Xiangtan County Public Security Bureau in Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, with the support of the county bureau, went to Loudi and successfully dismantled a fraud den that used malicious links to steal virtual currency, arresting 3 criminal suspects.Upon investigation, on September 4, a local resident reported that after clicking on a strange link in a virtual currency QQ group, 6814 yuan worth of USDT was stolen from their account. Since August, three individuals, Zhou, Chen, and Liang, have been seeking illegal profits by obtaining malicious virus links through the Telegram app, specifically searching for virtual currency exchange groups in QQ and WeChat, sending malicious links in the groups, and waiting to steal the virtual currency from the accounts of those who clicked. Currently, all three suspects have been criminally detained in accordance with the law on suspicion of theft, and the case is under further investigation.