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Spanish authorities have arrested five people suspected of laundering $540 million in illegal cryptocurrency investment schemes and defrauding more than 5,000 people.
The law enforcement operation, dubbed Borrelli, was supported and coordinated by Europol, as well as law enforcement agencies from Estonia, France, and the United States.
Cryptocurrency investment scams are typically carried out through a romance scam (also known as “pig butchering”) that has become popular in recent years.
In the scheme, fraudsters use social engineering and approach people (“pigs”) on social media and dating apps. Over time, the criminals gain the trust of their victims by faking friendship or romantic interest, and sometimes even posing as real friends of the victim.
Once “contact” is established, at some point the criminals invite the victim to invest in cryptocurrency, for which the target is directed to a fake website. Unfortunately, it is usually impossible to get your money back and receive the declared income from such “investments”. As a rule, after “investing” the funds, they are moved through many accounts, which makes them extremely difficult to track.
The investigation into the activities of this fraudulent group began back in 2023. Since then, Europol’s financial crime experts have assisted the Spanish authorities by coordinating the investigation and providing operational support. On the day of the operation, a cryptocurrency specialist was even sent to Spain to assist the investigators.
Although the investigation into the methods used by the attackers is still ongoing, the police say they have now managed to understand the modus operandi of the group, which transferred and hid the stolen funds through its channels in Asia.
[td]"To carry out their fraudulent activities, the leaders of the criminal group are believed to have used a network of accomplices around the world who collected funds through cash withdrawals, bank transfers and crypto transfers," Europol said. "Investigators suspect the criminal organisation of having set up a corporate and banking network based in Hong Kong that used payment gateways and accounts on various exchanges, created in the names of different people, to receive, store and transfer funds obtained through criminal activity."[/td]Europol's statement specifically highlights the role of AI in the spread of investment fraud, which is becoming increasingly sophisticated.
The law enforcement operation, dubbed Borrelli, was supported and coordinated by Europol, as well as law enforcement agencies from Estonia, France, and the United States.
Cryptocurrency investment scams are typically carried out through a romance scam (also known as “pig butchering”) that has become popular in recent years.
In the scheme, fraudsters use social engineering and approach people (“pigs”) on social media and dating apps. Over time, the criminals gain the trust of their victims by faking friendship or romantic interest, and sometimes even posing as real friends of the victim.
Once “contact” is established, at some point the criminals invite the victim to invest in cryptocurrency, for which the target is directed to a fake website. Unfortunately, it is usually impossible to get your money back and receive the declared income from such “investments”. As a rule, after “investing” the funds, they are moved through many accounts, which makes them extremely difficult to track.
The investigation into the activities of this fraudulent group began back in 2023. Since then, Europol’s financial crime experts have assisted the Spanish authorities by coordinating the investigation and providing operational support. On the day of the operation, a cryptocurrency specialist was even sent to Spain to assist the investigators.
Although the investigation into the methods used by the attackers is still ongoing, the police say they have now managed to understand the modus operandi of the group, which transferred and hid the stolen funds through its channels in Asia.