The European law enforcement agency, Europol, has announced the arrest of five individuals who were part of a group that defrauded over 5,000 investors into losing approximately €460 million (approximately $542 million) through a cryptocurrency scam. The Spanish police have led this operation, with the support of the United States, France, and Estonia.
The arrests happened on Wednesday; the police had caught three people in the Canary Islands and two in Madrid. According to the reports , the scammers worked together globally, using cash, bank transfers, and cryptocurrencies to collect money.
Authorities also stated that the scammers had set up a fake business and banking system in Hong Kong, and they had used different names and accounts to hide and move the stolen money. This is one of the biggest crypto scams in Spain. Earlier this year, Spanish police had also frozen $26.4 million in digital money that was linked to money laundering.
The scammers used a trick called “pig butchering,” where they built trust with victims by being friendly to them and convinced them to send more and more money over time. The US Department of Justice recently took action against cryptocurrency scams.
On June 18, the DOJ seized over $225 million that was connected to fraud similar to the one in Spain. Also, five men in the US admitted to running a different scam that stole $37 million, with the money being sent to Cambodia.
These initiatives by the authorities highlight that the different countries and their authorities are working together to stop cryptocurrency scams and to protect people from such fake scams and brilliant criminal groups that implement such fake scams.
