Cryptocurrency Theft Totaling £22 Million Uncovered in Europe, Six Arrested

Authorities in the UK and Netherlands have just issued simultaneous arrests for six individuals thought to be operated by a criminal enterprise. Five men and one woman, aged between 19 and 37, have been apprehended in an apparent cryptocurrency scheme to defraud victims.

Cryptocurrency Crimes Growing

The warrants for the suspects that were arrested are part of a still-ongoing investigation led by the South West Regional Cuber Crime Unit along with Dutch police. What was believed to be a theft of around £17,000 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) has been discovered to be so much more. Victims spanned more than 12 countries — around 4,000 of them had around £22 million stolen in total. The arrests today are the culmination of 14 months of investigative work. The way victims were targeted was through what is called ‘typosquatting.’ Spoofed websites with some minor, often overlooked, mistakes in the URL lured victims for their private login. The victims, unaware they were typing in their information on a spoofed site, had their login and private data phished and cryptocurrency wallets emptied. According to Detective Inspector Louise Boyce, ‘We expect that number [4,000 victims] to grow.’ A large number of devices and other valuables were also seized in the arrests.

Exercise Caution

The arrests are one of the largest cryptocurrency-related scams uncovered in the past year. According to a recent poll, around 15 percent of all cryptocurrency users have been subject to a scam in some capacity. Authorities have been stepping up their cybersecurity teams in the wake of these persistent crimes. The issue is, however, that most will go unaccounted for and will likely never be uncovered. Phishing sites are difficult to combat. However, the least one can do is always make sure to not visit sites without being sure it is the correct domain, especially if you are typing in sensitive information. Bookmark the correct domain and use that to visit the website. Although it’s unclear how victims were brought to the spoofed website in this case, you’re better off being safe than sorry. Do you believe more cryptocurrency scams will be exposed in the coming years as law enforcement becomes more sophisticated? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.