fraud

According to the official blog, Binance, in collaboration with INTERPOL, AFRIPOL, and law enforcement agencies from 16 African countries, launched the "Red Card 2.0" operation to combat high-yield investment scams, mobile payment fraud, and fraudulent loan applications.During the approximately 8-week operation, police arrested a total of 651 suspects, seized 1,442 malicious IPs/domains/servers and related equipment, and recovered over 4.3 million dollars in funds. The investigation revealed total associated losses exceeding 45 million dollars, confirming 1,247 victims.

According to the official blog, Binance, in collaboration with INTERPOL, AFRIPOL, and law enforcement agencies from 16 African countries, launched "Operation Red Card 2" to combat high-yield investment scams, mobile payment fraud, and fraudulent loan applications.During the approximately 8-week operation, police arrested a total of 651 suspects, seized 1,442 malicious IPs/domains/servers and related equipment, and recovered over 4.3 million dollars in funds. The investigation revealed total associated losses exceeding 45 million dollars, confirming 1,247 victims.

The world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, Bybit, today officially announced the comprehensive results of its 2025 Security Initiative. Bybit has built an industry-leading multi-layer defense architecture, successfully protecting the safety of tens of thousands of users and setting a new benchmark for proactive risk control in the digital asset space. According to a report by Chainalysis, global cryptocurrency losses due to scams and fraud reached as high as $17 billion in 2025.Redefining Industry Standards: Three-Tier Withdrawal Fraud Defense FrameworkTo break through the limitations of traditional post-event remediation in risk control, Bybit has pioneered a dynamic risk grading protection system that intervenes proactively before financial losses occur. This system categorizes potential fraud scenarios into three risk levels, each matched with differentiated response strategies—ensuring user withdrawal safety while maintaining a smooth trading experience on the platform.Level 1: Early Warning (Low Risk)Leveraging big data heuristic algorithms to identify abnormal behavior patterns (e.g., large withdrawals concentrated to a single new address), Bybit automatically triggers a risk questionnaire survey. Relevant insights assist the risk control operations team in blacklisting high-risk addresses in advance, achieving source interception.Level 2: Real-Time Warning (Medium Risk)When an account is flagged due to database breaches (cross-referencing external network leak data) or associated with suspicious withdrawal addresses, Bybit will trigger a real-time pop-up reminder during the withdrawal process. This mechanism guides users to pause operations and review transaction details, effectively resisting social engineering attacks that rely on urgency or emotional pressure.Level 3: Instant Interception + Cooling-Off Period (High Risk)For wallet addresses confirmed to be involved in fraud (including so-called "pig-butchering" investment scams), Bybit implements real-time withdrawal interception and enforces a 1-hour cooling-off period mechanism. This critical time window provides users with essential assurance to regain rational judgment and verify the authenticity of transactions.Overview of 2025 Achievements and Core DataThe measures implemented in the fourth quarter of 2025 have brought breakthrough results in user safety protection:Q4 Fraudulent Fund Interception and Recovery: Bybit successfully intercepted and recovered $300 million through proactive reminders, safeguarding the life savings of over 4,000 users;Q4 AI-Driven Risk Identification: Bybit's self-developed AI algorithm accurately identified 350 high-risk investment scam addresses through on-chain data analysis, helping 8,000 users avoid potential withdrawal losses;2025 Annual Infrastructure Resilience: The platform successfully withstood over 3 million hacker database breach (account hijacking) attacks;Q4 On-Chain Proactive Monitoring: The system automatically flagged 350 risk addresses, and the ticket operations team manually reviewed and marked 600 addresses, cumulatively avoiding nearly $1 million in immediate fraud losses.Co-Building a Safe Ecosystem: Industry Collaboration and Government-Enterprise LinkageBybit firmly believes that safety should not be a competitive barrier but a shared responsibility across the industry. The strategic focus for 2025 is on deep integration of external intelligence:"In 2025, our mission is to upgrade the risk control system from a 'silent shield' to a proactive, intelligent safety guardian," said David Zong, Head of Risk Control at Bybit Group. "By deeply integrating AI-driven on-chain monitoring with real-time intelligence from industry partners like TRM, Elliptic, and Chainalysis, we not only protect Bybit users but also help map the 'genetic blueprint' of fraud networks. We are opening and sharing these standardized monitoring clues across the entire ecosystem—because the safety of the industry begins with the safety of each participant."

According to market news, Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has dismissed the class action lawsuit against Uniswap Labs and its founder Hayden Adams. This ruling ends a long-standing legal attempt to hold DEX developers accountable for "fraud tokens" traded on their platform.In her ruling, the judge stated that holding the creators of smart contract code responsible for third-party abuses of decentralized platforms is "illogical," and emphasized that merely providing a platform does not equate to substantial assistance in fraud. Since the plaintiffs failed to present valid legal claims even after multiple amendments to the complaint, the judge decided to "dismiss the case with prejudice," meaning the plaintiffs cannot sue again on the same grounds.Uniswap's General Counsel Brian Nistler stated that this ruling sets an important precedent for the DeFi industry, reaffirming that developers are not responsible for illegal activities conducted by third parties using open-source code.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts recently filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit seeking to recover 327,829.720952 USDT (approximately $327,000), which is allegedly related to a cryptocurrency scam conducted through a dating app.Prosecutors stated that the investigation began in the fall of 2024 when authorities discovered that a Massachusetts resident was suspected of being involved in a "romance scam." The suspect, using the name "Linda Brown," claimed to have a cryptocurrency investment opportunity after establishing a relationship with the victim for several weeks, leading the victim to transfer funds. Prosecutors claimed that the suspect used "legitimate investment" as a guise to trick the victim into transferring funds to a wallet address controlled by the suspect or an accomplice. The victim only realized the investment was a scam after failing to withdraw funds.Law enforcement noted that the stolen funds were transferred through multiple cryptocurrency wallets, then converted to USDT, and ultimately used for money laundering transactions. At the time of this case, U.S. regulators are intensifying warnings about "romance-related cryptocurrency scams." Previously, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Ohio issued a reminder titled "Cupid Doesn't Ask for Crypto" ahead of Valentine's Day, warning the public to be cautious of romance investment scams conducted through social media and instant messaging platforms.

A U.S. federal judge ruled to dismiss the remaining state law claims against Uniswap Labs and its founder Hayden Adams, ending a years-long class action lawsuit.The plaintiffs attempted to hold the platform liable for losses incurred from "scam tokens" traded on the Uniswap protocol. Judge Katherine Polk Failla of the Southern District of New York issued the ruling on Monday, dismissing the plaintiffs' second amended complaint "with prejudice," stating that the plaintiffs failed to present a viable legal claim. The court noted that the plaintiffs had multiple opportunities to amend their complaint but still could not demonstrate that Uniswap was responsible for the misconduct of unnamed third-party token issuers.The plaintiffs claimed to have suffered losses due to actions such as "rug pulls" and "pump-and-dump" schemes, arguing that Uniswap "aided fraud" by providing a platform for buyers and sellers to trade. However, the court clearly stated that merely providing a decentralized trading platform does not constitute "substantial assistance" to fraudulent activities. Judge Failla reiterated her previous view that holding developers of smart contract code responsible for the abusive actions of third parties on decentralized platforms is "logically difficult to sustain."The case was initially filed in 2022 and originally included federal securities law claims. The related securities claims were dismissed in 2023, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld that ruling, remanding the remaining state law claims to the district court for consideration. This ruling signifies the formal conclusion of the case and further tightens the boundaries of state law liability for DeFi platform developers.

TRM Labs released a report indicating that artificial intelligence is profoundly changing the landscape of digital financial transactions, with illicit cryptocurrency flows reaching $158 billion by 2025, and AI-driven fraud activities growing at an annual rate of approximately 500%.The report highlights that autonomous AI agents have significantly compressed the time required for money laundering and cross-chain asset transfers. By automating the splitting of funds, selecting optimal bridging paths, and executing exchanges on decentralized platforms, these agents can obscure the trail of funds in just seconds.Overall, the 150 hacking incidents that occurred in 2025 resulted in losses of $2.87 billion, with the speed of fund dispersal playing a crucial role in the outcome of a $1.46 billion theft from a major exchange.

According to the Hong Kong Commercial Daily, the Hong Kong police reported that in 2025, they received a total of 12,505 online shopping fraud cases, an increase of 8.2% compared to 2024. The online shopping fraud case with the largest single loss amount involved cryptocurrency trading. The victim joined a Telegram cryptocurrency trading group and received a private chat from a member impersonating Bittwatt (BWT) customer service, requesting a "verification code" as group entry verification. Subsequently, the fraudster transferred all virtual assets from the victim's cryptocurrency wallet connected to Telegram, resulting in a total loss of over HKD 3.7 million.The police remind that when shopping online, one should contact customer service through official channels. Regardless of the form of transfer, it is essential to verify authenticity before making any payment and to carefully check payment information. Do not click on unknown or suspicious links.

According to Decrypt, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro announced that the Fraud Center Strike Force has frozen and seized over $580 million in cryptocurrency from Southeast Asian crime networks.The task force was established in November 2025 and operates in coordination with agencies such as the U.S. Department of Justice, FBI, Secret Service, and Department of the Treasury, primarily targeting transnational crime networks operating "pig butchering" scams in Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. Pirro stated that her office will seek to forfeit the related funds through legal processes and return them to victims to the greatest extent possible.Deddy Lavid, CEO of blockchain analytics platform Cyvers, told Decrypt that while the $580 million in seizures is operationally significant, it represents only a small fraction of the total activity in the global crypto fraud landscape. The company has identified approximately 27,000 active criminal groups involved in about $27.5 billion in fraud exposure.Pirro linked the Southeast Asian scam networks to organized crime in China, while Lavid pointed out that these networks are becoming increasingly decentralized, involving operators from multiple countries and cross-border money laundering hubs.

The Hong Kong virtual currency trading platform AAX ceased operations in mid-November 2022 under the pretext of system maintenance and updates, leaving over 300 customers unable to retrieve nearly 100 million Hong Kong dollars in assets. After an investigation, Hong Kong law enforcement discovered that the platform's shutdown was allegedly caused by false information and illegal means, with the person in charge fleeing Hong Kong with a virtual currency wallet and private keys, and later being arrested upon returning.Hong Kong police stated that after a thorough investigation, 191 victims reported losses totaling approximately 81 million Hong Kong dollars, while the AAX person in charge withdrew virtual currency worth about 633 million Hong Kong dollars after the platform ceased operations. He has currently been charged with 3 counts of theft and 1 count of fraud.

According to reports from the WeChat public account "Singapore All-in-One," a Chinese suspect involved in fraud through a cryptocurrency platform was recently arrested in Nakhon Pathom, Thailand. The suspect, nicknamed "Duan Zong," is related to the BHE Exchange cryptocurrency fraud case.BHE Exchange had issued a token called DDO, promising investors an annual return of 6% and a 20-fold increase within ten years, attracting around 20,000 investors. The platform suddenly shut down, and investors were unable to withdraw their funds, resulting in a loss of approximately $128 million (about 900 million RMB). The suspect fled China in 2024 and settled in Thailand, frequently changing residences to evade capture. Currently, the Thai authorities have revoked his residence permit and will deport him back to China for further investigation and prosecution.

According to FinanceFeeds, Uniswap founder Hayden Adams has warned that search engine ads impersonating Uniswap continue to appear, resulting in users losing all their high-value crypto assets. Scammers purchase ads for keywords like "Uniswap" to place fake websites at the top of search results, with designs that closely resemble the official site. Once users connect their wallets and authorize transactions, their funds can be immediately transferred away.These types of attacks rely on user signature authorization rather than protocol-level vulnerabilities. An X platform user "Ika" reported losing crypto wallet assets worth hundreds of thousands of dollars after clicking on a fake link in the search results. Screenshots he disclosed show that the fake link was at the top of the search results, making it highly misleading. Similar incidents occurred in October 2024, where scammers replicated the Uniswap website interface and induced users to connect their wallets through subtle button changes.Data from security firm CertiK indicates that in January 2026, the crypto industry lost approximately $370.3 million due to exploits and scams, marking a nearly 11-month high and nearly four times the losses of January 2025. One single social engineering attack resulted in losses of about $284 million. A total of 40 related security incidents were recorded in January. Analysis points out that current crypto asset losses are increasingly stemming from phishing links, false ads, and social engineering attacks, rather than underlying smart contract vulnerabilities. As the DeFi ecosystem expands, brand impersonation and interface fraud are becoming significant risks affecting user trust.

The convicted former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is seeking a retrial. According to reports, his mother recently filed a motion in a New York federal court, claiming that new evidence has emerged and that the related fraud charges should be re-examined. Currently, SBF is pursuing this motion pro se.Under legal procedures, he must demonstrate the existence of significant new evidence that could affect the original verdict in order to have a chance at a retrial. SBF was previously sentenced to 25 years in prison due to the FTX collapse and continues to challenge the verdict through appeals. His past defense has emphasized that FTX was not entirely insolvent at the time of its collapse, but appellate court judges have pointed out that the core of the case revolves around whether customer funds were misappropriated and whether investors were misled, rather than the company's solvency. Additionally, former President Trump has recently stated that he will not consider granting clemency to SBF.

According to reports from Zhong'an Online, the Hefei Xinzhan Public Security Bureau discovered that a virtual currency exchanger was providing money laundering services for a fraud gang while handling a telecom network fraud case involving 260,000 yuan. On January 15, 2026, the police arrested the suspect Liu in Sichuan.Investigation revealed that Liu had been engaged in virtual currency trading since 2020, contacting upstream buyers through overseas chat software and conducting transactions with fraudsters on illegal trading platforms. In June 2025, after selling virtual currency on an illegal platform, Liu withdrew the illicit funds that were transferred to his account to his personal WeChat account, which is suspected of concealing and disguising criminal proceeds. The case is currently under further investigation.

According to the disclosure by the WeChat public account of the Internet Information Office of Jiangmen, the Kaiping City Procuratorate is handling a "money laundering" case involving virtual currency. The criminal gang received funds from telecom network fraud and other criminal proceeds, which were then arranged to be withdrawn from the bank and exchanged for virtual currency to be transferred to upstream fraudsters. In just two months, the amount of fraud-related funds transferred exceeded 2 million yuan.Currently, 19 individuals involved in the case have been sentenced by the Kaiping City Court for the crime of concealing and disguising criminal proceeds.

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that a man named Daren Li, who holds dual citizenship in China and Saint Kitts and Nevis, was sentenced in absentia to the maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison, along with 3 years of supervised release, by the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California on February 9 local time, for his involvement in a global cryptocurrency investment fraud scheme involving over $73 million.The Department of Justice stated that the 42-year-old Li pleaded guilty in November 2024, admitting to participating in a transnational cryptocurrency investment fraud and money laundering conspiracy operating from a scam hub in Cambodia. However, he fled after cutting off his electronic ankle monitor in December 2025 and is currently still at large.Prosecutors revealed that the fraud ring actively contacted victims through social media, phone calls, text messages, and online dating platforms to establish "professional or romantic relationships" to gain trust, and used fake cryptocurrency trading platforms and phishing websites to lure victims into investing in false projects. In some cases, they also impersonated customer service or technical support personnel, deceiving victims into transferring funds or moving cryptocurrency assets under the pretext of "fixing viruses."According to the plea agreement, Li and his accomplices caused at least $73.6 million in victim fund losses, of which $59.8 million was laundered through U.S. shell company accounts and further converted into cryptocurrency to conceal the sources and flows of the funds. Li was found to have directly participated in the final receipt and control of the victim funds.So far, 8 accomplices have pleaded guilty, and Li is the first defendant to be sentenced for directly receiving the illicit funds. The case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service with assistance from law enforcement agencies in multiple countries. The U.S. Department of Justice stated that it will continue to promote international cooperation in an effort to extradite Li back to the U.S. to serve his sentence.

The Polymarket team member shampoo accused competitor Kalshi on social media of inflating its esports trading volume through data manipulation. shampoo stated that the platform artificially increased its trading volume by approximately $1.7 billion by adding a generalized "esports" category, while actual data shows its esports trading volume is only about $63 million, less than 10% of Polymarket's esports trading volume.Additionally, Kalshi also referred to the CS market as both CS:GO and CS2 for double counting.shampoo mentioned on social media that users can verify this situation themselves by checking the API data in the network requests.

The police remind that as the year-end approaches, a new type of scam involving "offline cash withdrawal + online fraud" has emerged during the peak period of gold consumption. After the victims purchase gold at a jewelry store and have it mailed to a designated location, the scammers will send disguised "runners" to collect the package from the courier. Multiple "runners" relay the package, with the last one taking the gold to a recycling shop to sell it and then delivering the cash to a location specified by the scammers.Some scammers will also instruct the "runners" to find currency dealers to exchange the gold for virtual currency, which is then deposited into a designated account. This virtual currency can be circulated globally using blockchain technology. Once successful, the scammers achieve their goal of stealing gold and laundering money.

Binance founder CZ revealed that he discovered users on the social media platform X using AI-generated images to impersonate supporters who are closely associated with him.CZ pointed out that the account has 863,000 followers, used a photo from a BNB Chain event in Korea that he attended as a banner, and posted several AI-generated photos of him with CZ. By analyzing the details of the photos, such as the fact that he never wears blue or purple clothing, and the inconsistent resolution of the characters in the images, CZ identified these as forged images. The original photo was actually a picture with Aster CEO Leonard.CZ reminded the community to be vigilant against such potential scams, while also stating that the Binance team welcomes sincere constructive feedback.

According to Hong Kong 01, the Hong Kong police disclosed that over the past three weeks, they have launched a citywide law enforcement operation against fraud, cybercrime, and money laundering, codenamed "Operation Conquer," resulting in the arrest of 682 individuals for conspiracy to commit fraud, obtaining property by deception, and money laundering. This operation involved 580 fraud and technology crime cases, with a total amount of up to HKD 620 million.Among them, in the law enforcement action codenamed "Cyber Web" by the Hong Kong Police Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau, a local online romance scam group was dismantled, along with a gang that used virtual currency for money laundering. This gang defrauded 314 victims of a total of HKD 44 million over the past 16 months, with an average amount of about HKD 150,000 per case.