UK led Operation Atlantic freezes $12m in crypto phishing fraud

Operation Atlantic ran for a week last month and led to the freezing of $12m thought to have been stolen via approval phishing, according to Infosecurity Magazine. The operation was led by the UK’s National Crime Agency, with support from the US Secret Service, Ontario Provincial Police and Ontario Securities Commission, and it also drew private-sector backing from Binance, Coinbase, Tether and blockchain analytics firms Elliptics, TRM Labs and Chainalysis.

Authorities identified over 20,000 crypto wallets linked to fraud victims across more than 30 countries, and contacted 3,000 victims during this phase. They also disrupted over 120 web domains used by scammers. In addition, the NCA said the initiative identified a further $33m stolen in crypto fraud, highlighting what can be achieved when international agencies partner with the private sector.

Miles Bonfield, the NCA deputy director of investigations, and Brent Daniels of the US Secret Service described the operation as demonstrating international collaboration to stop cryptocurrency fraud and safeguard victims.