fraud

According to Cryptopolitan, a court in Barcelona is investigating six former Sevilla FC players for their alleged involvement in a fraud case related to the Shirtum crypto project.Newly submitted criminal complaints indicate that the project is accused of selling fake NFTs and manipulated tokens to investors, resulting in losses of over 24 million euros, approximately 28 million dollars. The players named in the complaint include Papu Gómez, Lucas Ocampos, Ivan Rakitić, Nico Pareja, Alberto Moreno, and Javier Saviola. Additionally, El Correo de Andalucía reports that Diego Perotti and Marcelo Guedes were also involved in promoting the project. Thirteen Spanish investors have filed a lawsuit with the Barcelona Investigative Court No. 5, claiming they lost all their funds.It is reported that Shirtum was promoted as a digital collectibles trading platform for football and sold "cinematic NFTs" containing player photos and recordings, priced at around 450 euros each. However, the complainants claim that these NFTs were never minted on any blockchain and cannot be transferred or resold. Furthermore, Shirtum's promoters previously obtained about 3 million euros in BNB from investors for the development of iOS and Android mobile applications, but the app was never launched, and the related funds were neither refunded nor accounted for.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that the state has recovered over $5 million from the cryptocurrency platform Uphold due to its role in promoting a fraudulent investment product.The settlement primarily revolves around Uphold's promotional activities for the product CredEarn launched by Cred LLC and its CEO Daniel Schatt. Between January 2019 and October 2020, Uphold advertised CredEarn on its platform and mobile app as a safe, reliable savings product that offered attractive annual returns. However, the Attorney General's office pointed out in a statement that Uphold did not inform users that Cred actually obtained these returns by issuing small loans to low-income video game players, who typically have no credit history and cannot access services from traditional financial institutions.

According to CBC News, the Canadian federal government has announced plans to completely ban cryptocurrency ATMs to protect the public from fraudsters.This move was formally proposed in the government's spring economic update, which characterizes cryptocurrency ATMs as "a major means for fraudsters to deceive victims and for criminals to launder money." Cryptocurrency ATMs allow users to deposit cash and exchange it for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, which can then be transferred to any virtual wallet globally. A previous investigative report by CBC News titled "Feeding Fraud" revealed that such machines have become a primary channel for fraudsters to obtain victims' funds in Canada. The Canadian financial intelligence agency FINTRAC also reached the same conclusion in its analysis report in February 2023.Currently, Canada has the highest number of cryptocurrency ATMs per capita in the world, with nearly 4,000 machines nationwide, but there is still a lack of specific regulatory laws for the industry. The government stated that after the ban is implemented, the public can still purchase virtual currencies through physical currency service providers.

The derivatives trading platform SUNX officially announced that there has been a surge of counterfeit platforms impersonating SUNX in the market recently. Some criminals are using unofficial Chinese translations such as "孙克斯" and "森克斯" to carry out fraudulent activities like "contract trading" and other financial scams.In response to the above phenomenon, SUNX makes the following core clarifications and statements:Official Name: SUNX officially only uses the unique English name "SUNX" and has never adopted any Chinese name. Any platform that lures users into high-yield rebate schemes using names like "孙克斯" is counterfeit and has no connection to SUNX.Compliance Qualifications: SUNX was established in 2018 and has legally obtained compliance qualifications in multiple countries. This includes the US MSB license, registration numbers 31000276306668 and 31000307329308. Officially registered with the US SEC, SUNX LTD. (CIK: 0002106288).Inclusion in Authoritative Platforms: Currently, SUNX has been included in several authoritative data platforms, ranking 19th globally on MyToken and 33rd globally on Nonce, and has been officially listed on CoinMarketCap.SUNX reminds users to access trading only through the official unique channels and to stay away from any fraudulent activities claiming "contract trading" or using unofficial Chinese names. The company has initiated evidence collection procedures and will pursue legal responsibility against the infringing parties according to the law.

According to The Block, a U.S. court sentenced a woman from Saipan to 71 months in prison for her involvement in a Bitcoin-related fraud scheme that affected multiple elderly victims.The report stated that the defendant induced the victims to invest in Bitcoin under false pretenses by establishing a trusting relationship with them. The case was identified as a fraud scheme targeting multiple individuals.

According to the Hong Kong Wen Wei Po, the Hong Kong police have disclosed the resolution of a cross-border phone scam case, where a criminal group impersonated mainland officials, specifically targeting mainland students studying in the UK and Australia.The scammers falsely claimed that the victims were involved in criminal cases such as money laundering and demanded their "cooperation in the investigation." They instructed the victims to travel to Hong Kong to purchase gold grains in multiple transactions at jewelry stores as "collateral," with each transaction not exceeding HKD 120,000 to evade the registration system of gold shops. The group members then collected and transferred the stolen goods. The gold grains were subsequently melted down into gold bars or exchanged for cash and virtual currency. The police have currently received a total of 7 related cases, involving approximately HKD 7 million, with the highest single case loss reaching HKD 1.6 million.

The Singapore Police Force's Anti-Fraud Centre, in collaboration with the Cyber Investigation Department and cryptocurrency platforms such as Coinbase, Coinhako, StraitsX, and Upbit, launched a month-long special enforcement operation from March 16 to April 15 this year, successfully intercepting over 2.86 million yuan in fraudulent funds.During the operation, authorities utilized analysis tools from blockchain intelligence companies TRM Labs and Chainalysis to identify victims involved in various cases, including impersonation of government officials, investment fraud, job scam, and online romance scams, and completed over 90 direct interventions via phone and face-to-face meetings. The police stated that the effectiveness of this operation was attributed to the rapid information-sharing mechanism between law enforcement agencies and private platforms, and emphasized the ongoing commitment to deepen public-private cooperation to address the increasingly complex threats of cryptocurrency fraud.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has signed a bill that bans the operation of cryptocurrency ATMs statewide, becoming the second state after Indiana to implement a comprehensive ban. The bill (HB 2505) has officially taken effect and will be enforced starting July 1.According to the regulations, installing or operating "virtual currency kiosks" (i.e., Bitcoin ATMs) will be classified as a Class A misdemeanor, with a maximum penalty of one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. At the same time, merchants that allow the installation of such devices will also bear legal responsibility. Currently, most states in the U.S. have strengthened regulation through measures such as establishing licensing systems and transaction limits, but comprehensive bans remain rare. Data shows that since 2026, 30 states have proposed related legislation, with 20 states having passed laws, indicating a continued tightening of regulations against the risks of cryptocurrency ATM scams.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced sanctions against Cambodian Senator Kok An, accusing him of controlling "fraud parks" across the country, defrauding American victims through cryptocurrency investment scams.According to a statement released by OFAC on Thursday, in addition to Kok An, 28 other individuals and entities have been added to the sanctions list, all believed to be connected to his fraud network. This network is accused of luring victims into sending cryptocurrency assets under the guise of "high return investments." This action follows a raid by Cambodian police on two scam centers in the border city of Poipet. Previously, Kok An had been accused of operating scam bases in the area. OFAC stated that scammers typically gain victims' trust by establishing "friendships" or "romantic relationships," then guide them to participate in so-called cryptocurrency investment platforms, thereby defrauding them of funds, with the total amount involved reaching millions of dollars.It is noteworthy that some individuals involved in the scam activities are themselves victims of human trafficking, forced to engage in illegal activities under threats of violence. OFAC pointed out that these scam centers are often located in casinos or repurposed office parks, used not only for money laundering but also as bases for defrauding American citizens and committing human rights violations. Additionally, regulators have simultaneously shut down over 500 fraudulent website domains used for cryptocurrency investment scams, indicating that the U.S. crackdown on related criminal activities is intensifying.

Coinbase stated that it is optimizing the rule creation process in its anti-fraud system by integrating machine learning models with a rules engine, achieving more efficient risk management. It also proposed a dual-track strategy of "models responsible for long-term defense, rules responsible for rapid response," and built a unified framework to create a feedback loop between the two: rules are used to capture new types of fraud and train the model in reverse, thereby continuously enhancing overall defense capabilities.In terms of specific optimizations, Coinbase has transformed the previously manual rule creation process into a data-driven and automated recommendation system by restructuring data, automating schema evolution, and introducing notebook-based analytical tools, significantly improving efficiency. Among these improvements, the performance of rule backtesting has increased by more than 10 times, and the overall response time has been reduced from several days to a few hours. Additionally, the new system uses machine learning to recommend parameters, helping to reduce false positive rates while combating fraud and minimizing the impact on normal users. Coinbase indicated that the next step will be to advance event-driven automatic rule generation and explore the "one-click conversion" of efficient rules into model features, further moving towards an automated risk management system.

According to China News Weekly, a 19-year-old female college student from Guangdong was recently invited to Thailand to participate in the Water Splashing Festival. After landing, she was controlled and is suspected to have been sold to a Myanmar telecom fraud park near the Three Pagodas area on the Thailand-Myanmar border.Her family stated that the other party claimed to have purchased her for 29,000 U and then demanded a ransom of 30,000 U, equivalent

The U.S. Department of Justice revealed that Carmine Agnello, the grandson of mob boss John Gotti, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for fraudulently obtaining approximately $1.1 million in COVID relief funds and investing part of the money into cryptocurrency ventures.Prosecutors stated that from April 2020 to November 2021, Agnello obtained multiple relief loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) through false declarations, falsely claiming they were for the operation of his auto parts and recycling business, while actually diverting the funds for personal use, including approximately $420,000 invested in cryptocurrency-related investments. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York indicated that this conduct occurred during the peak of the pandemic, representing a serious abuse of government aid funds. Agnello is expected to report to prison on July 1. Additionally, official data shows that fraud related to U.S. pandemic relief funds is severe, with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) estimating that about $135 billion (approximately 15% of the total) has flowed into fraudulent activities.

According to Reuters, the Greek maritime risk management company MARISKS warned that some shipping companies stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz received messages impersonating Iranian authorities, demanding payment of a "toll fee" in Bitcoin or Tether (USDT). This information is a scam and not officially released by Iran.MARISKS stated that the scam messages claimed that documents must be submitted and evaluated by the "Iranian security department" before determining the cryptocurrency fees. Currently, approximately hundreds of vessels and about 20,000 seafarers are stranded in the Gulf. During a brief opening of the strait on April 18, at least two vessels (including one tanker) were forced to turn back after being fired upon by Iranian ships.

Hong Kong police disclosed a fraud case that used "AI quantitative trading" as a gimmick to lure investments in cryptocurrency, with a woman being defrauded of approximately 7.7 million Hong Kong dollars.The scammer impersonated an "investment expert" and actively contacted the victim through Telegram, claiming to use "quantitative trading" and "AI algorithms" to achieve stable high returns. The victim transferred USDT and ETH worth about 7.7 million Hong Kong dollars from her electronic wallet to a designated address 17 times, only to realize she had been scammed when her withdrawal attempts were rejected. The Hong Kong police remind the public that while cryptocurrencies have high return potential, they also come with high volatility and high risk. The so-called "AI trading" and "quantitative guaranteed profits" are often bait for scams, and the public should be wary of the "impossible triangle" trap of high returns, low risk, and low thresholds.

According to DL News, Argentine police arrested a Chinese national (abbreviated as DZ) at Buenos Aires Ezeiza International Airport. The suspect arrived from Paris holding a forged Paraguayan passport and has been listed as a wanted suspect by Interpol.A Nigerian court has accused him of orchestrating a cryptocurrency scam locally, attracting investors with the promise of "high returns," but victims were later unable to withdraw funds or access the platform, with the amount involved approximately $49.4 million. Argentine authorities stated they would cooperate with Nigeria to initiate extradition procedures.

Recently, the internet police in Taizhou, Zhejiang, China reported a fraud case disguised as "metaverse" and "virtual currency."The criminal gang promoted facial recognition payment devices, initially attracting users through a points system, then luring investors to purchase their self-issued "air coins." They continuously siphoned off funds through methods such as locking assets, manipulating prices, and "currency swapping," ultimately defrauding over 130 investors of approximately 35 million yuan. The court determined that the defendants committed fraud with the intent of illegal possession, with the amount being particularly large, sentencing them to 10 years in prison and a fine of 200,000 yuan.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Robert Dunlap, a man from Texas, was sentenced to 23 years in prison by Federal Judge LaShonda A. Hunt for orchestrating a cryptocurrency scam that defrauded nearly 1,000 investors of over $20 million.Between 2018 and 2023, Dunlap claimed to operate a cryptocurrency business and sold a fraudulent digital asset called "Meta-1 Coin" through the "Meta-1 Coin Trust." He spread multiple false statements to potential and actual investors, claiming that the token was backed by artwork valued at up to $1 billion and $44 billion in gold, and falsely stated that an accounting firm had audited the gold and certified its value. The so-called art collection allegedly included works by renowned artists such as Picasso, Dali, and Van Gogh. To cover up the fact that he did not actually hold the aforementioned gold or artwork, Dunlap forged a batch of legal documents.

According to Cointelegraph, Telegram CEO Pavel Durov called WhatsApp's end-to-end encryption a "huge consumer fraud." He pointed out that about 95% of private messages ultimately end up stored in unencrypted backups on Apple and Google servers.Durov believes that this situation puts users' privacy at risk. Although WhatsApp claims that its message transmission process uses end-to-end encryption, the actual backup mechanism fails to ensure the complete encryption of user information. This statement has raised industry concerns about the privacy protection measures of mainstream messaging applications.

According to the FBI's 2025 Internet Crime Report, losses related to cryptocurrency fraud reached a record $11.366 billion, an increase of 22% compared to 2024. Among the 181,565 related complaints received, the elderly population aged 60 and above reported losses of $4.4 billion, accounting for nearly 40% of the total loss amount.Cryptocurrency investment fraud remains the primary source of losses, involving amounts of $7.2 billion. Losses from cryptocurrency ATM and kiosk scams amounted to $389 million, a year-on-year increase of 58%. Additionally, complaints involving AI reached 22,364, with losses totaling $893 million, of which approximately $658.7 million was related to cryptocurrency. In regional statistics, California topped the list with cryptocurrency-related losses of $2.099 billion.

According to Cointelegraph, the joint law enforcement operation "Operation Atlantic" by the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada was completed in March this year, led by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA). Over $12 million in suspected fraud proceeds were frozen, and more than 20,000 victims were identified, with a total fraud amount exceeding $45 million.This operation focused on authorized phishing attacks—a scam technique that induces users to sign malicious authorizations, thereby allowing attackers to transfer tokens from the wallet. Binance participated by providing account screening and fraud intelligence support, but no funds were frozen from its platform.