Europol announced the successful takedown of a sophisticated international criminal network responsible for operating fake cryptocurrency investment platforms and laundering over €700 million approximately $815 million in illicit funds.
This multi-year operation, coordinated across Europe and beyond, culminated in coordinated raids and arrests, marking a significant blow to online investment scams exploiting crypto’s anonymity.
The network lured thousands of victims—primarily retail investors—through deceptive online ads promising sky-high returns on cryptocurrency investments. These ads often featured deepfake videos impersonating celebrities or financial experts to build false credibility.
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Once hooked, victims were directed to bogus trading platforms displaying fabricated profit dashboards to encourage larger deposits. Aggressive call centers then employed social engineering tactics, pressuring users to send more money via bank transfers, credit cards, or crypto wallets under the guise of “unlocking” gains or covering fake fees.
Stolen funds were quickly funneled through a web of cryptocurrency exchanges and multiple blockchains, leveraging mixing services to obscure trails and complicate recovery. This infrastructure spanned at least nine countries, including servers and operations in Cyprus a hub for fake platforms and affiliate marketing rings in Eastern Europe.
The bust unfolded in two main phases, building on years of intelligence from Eurojust and national agencies. Raids in Cyprus, Germany, and Spain—initiated at the request of French and Belgian authorities—led to the arrest of nine key suspects accused of laundering proceeds from the platforms. Seizures included, €800,000 in frozen bank accounts. €415,000 in cryptocurrencies, €300,000 in cash. Digital devices, luxury watches, and other high-value assets worth millions
Phase 2: Focus shifted to the scam’s support ecosystem, with searches in Belgium, Bulgaria, Germany, and Israel targeting deceptive ad networks and recruitment channels. This disrupted the flow of new victims and included analysis by Europol’s cryptocurrency experts to trace remaining funds.
Agencies from Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Germany, Israel, Malta, and Spain collaborated, with Malta’s Blockchain Analysis Unit identifying four local victims who lost €493,750 combined.
Investigations continue to seize additional assets and pursue affiliates. This operation follows a string of Europol-led crypto crackdowns, including the June 2025 shutdown of a €450 million investment fraud ring and the recent dismantling of the Cryptomixer service, which laundered over €1.3 billion in Bitcoin.
It highlights the growing sophistication of “pig butchering” scams in crypto, where emotional manipulation meets technical evasion. While exact victim counts remain undisclosed, the network’s scale suggests impacts on thousands across Europe and possibly further afield.
Unlike most crypto scams where funds vanish forever, Europol seized €800k in bank accounts, €415k in crypto, cash, luxury goods, and real estate. Some of the frozen/seized assets will eventually be redistributed to victims via court-ordered restitution especially in EU jurisdictions.
Victims in France, Belgium, Germany, Malta, etc., should formally file police reports now to be included in any future compensation pool. The use of deepfake videos of celebrities and financial influencers was central to this scam.
Expect platforms Meta, Google, TikTok to face renewed regulatory pressure in the EU to pre-screen ads containing video of real people claiming investment returns. Mainstream headlines will again equate “crypto” with scams, reinforcing the narrative that retail investors should stay away.
Longer-term, however, these high-profile busts help separate legitimate projects from the fraudsters and may accelerate clearer EU regulation. For those affected, Europol advises reporting to local authorities and monitoring for recovery options through seized assets.
This bust underscores ongoing efforts to clean up crypto’s underbelly, but experts warn that fragmented global regulation leaves room for similar schemes to evolve.