Cryptocurrency Scams

A San Jose widow lost nearly $1 million after an online romance led her into a fake crypto investment scam. She followed the man’s instructions, drained her savings and took out a second mortgage before realising it was a fraud.

A 71-year-old woman in Westlake, Ohio, was tricked by a phone scammer into depositing thousands of dollars into a Bitcoin ATM despite warnings from staff and police. Police froze the scammer’s crypto wallet, but it is unclear if she will get her money back.

A Europe-wide investigation uncovered a crypto fraud network that laundered over €700 million through fake trading platforms, deepfake adverts, and call centres. Authorities arrested multiple suspects and seized cash, crypto, and luxury goods while targeting the scam’s marketing and operational networks across seven countries.

The US Justice Department has seized a Myanmar-based crypto scam website linked to the Tai Chang compound. The operation targeted investors with fake trading platforms and is part of wider efforts to disrupt international crypto fraud.

Scammers are taking advantage of the holiday season, targeting online shoppers and crypto users with faster and more convincing tricks. Most attacks happen on social platforms, using fake profiles and urgent messages to steal money, and victims need to act quickly to protect their assets.

Monad’s highly anticipated token launch has quickly shifted from excitement to frustration as MON opened below its pre-sale price and immediately pushed early buyers into the red.

A British man, Joseph James O’Connor, has been ordered to return $5.4 million in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies after hijacking celebrity Twitter accounts in 2020. The civil recovery covers the increased value of the stolen crypto and will be managed by a court-appointed trustee for public restitution.

Spain’s financial authority, the CNMV, has hit X with a €5 million fine for allowing unauthorized crypto promotions to run on its platform. The ads in question promoted Quantum AI, a company with no legal permission to offer investment services in Spain.

Travis Ford, the co-founder and CEO of Wolf Capital Crypto Trading LLC, has been sentenced to 5 years in prison in federal prison for operating a $9.4 million crypto investment scheme that defrauded nearly 2,800 investors, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on November 14.

South Korean supermodel and TV personality Han Hye-jin has lost access to her YouTube channel — and more than 860,000 subscribers — after hackers took over her account to livestream a deepfake video of Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse promoting an XRP-themed crypto scam.