Scammer pretended to be a police officer and stole $2,8 million worth of bitcoins

Key points:

• The scammer posed as a senior detective to gain the victim’s trust and steal $2,8 million worth of bitcoins.
• At this stage of the investigation, it is believed that the victim’s data may have been compromised as a result of an information leak.
• The police urged cryptocurrency holders to be more careful and emphasized that detectives would never call citizens to discuss their crypto assets.

Police in North Wales, UK, have launched an investigation into the theft of $2,8 million (2,1 million pounds sterling) worth of bitcoins. The scammer posed as a senior detective to gain the victim’s trust. A police statement said the case “highlights a disturbing new trend targeting long-term crypto holders who use cold storage devices.”

At this stage of the investigation, it is believed that the victim’s data may have been compromised as a result of a data breach, which allowed the fraudster to carry out a sophisticated and targeted scheme.



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Scam scheme

The victim received a call from a “UK law enforcement officer” who claimed that their personal data had been found on the phone of a recently arrested criminal. The scammer then used intimidation tactics to convince the victim to “secure their assets” by accessing their cold storage device via a phishing link. The victim, believing they were talking to a police officer, followed the instructions and went to the fake website. It took the scammer just a few minutes to withdraw the bitcoins.

Police response

The police urged investors and cryptocurrency holders to be more careful and emphasized that real detectives never call citizens to discuss their crypto assets or cold storage devices.

Earlier, the US FBI warned about a similar scheme: scammers posed as crypto exchange employees, reported alleged problems with accounts, and used deception to gain access to wallets.

Source: x.com

In April, the US FBI published its annual report on cybercrime for 2024 (IC3). Over the course of the year, the Internet Crime Complaint Center received 859 532 reports of online incidents.