All news with #scammer tag

🛡️ Interpol-led Operation Contender 3.0 swept through 14 African countries between 28 July and 11 August 2025, targeting romance scams and sextortion networks and resulting in 260 arrests. Law enforcement, aided by private firms Group-IB and Trend Micro, seized 1,235 electronic devices and took down 81 cybercrime infrastructures. Investigations in Ghana, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Angola identified 1,463 victims and estimated losses near $2.8 million.

🔍 A Eurojust-coordinated joint action day led to the arrest of five suspects, including the alleged mastermind of a cryptocurrency investment fraud that reportedly seized €100m from victims across 23 countries. Authorities say the multi-year scheme, active since at least 2018, used professionally designed websites to promise high returns and then demanded additional fees to process withdrawals before sites went offline. Europol provided operational and analytical support while the joint investigation team helped coordinate cross-border activity.

🛑 Eurojust coordinated the arrest of five suspects tied to an elaborate online investment fraud that stole more than €100 million from over 100 victims across France, Germany, Italy and Spain. Searches and asset freezes were carried out in Spain, Portugal, Italy, Romania and Bulgaria, and investigators say funds were laundered via Lithuanian bank accounts. Victims were charged extra withdrawal fees before the platform disappeared.

⚠️ The FBI warns that cybercriminals are creating spoofed versions of the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) website to harvest personally identifiable information and facilitate financial scams. The agency noted over 100 reports between December 2023 and February 2025 prompting a public service announcement and flagged domains that mimic ic3.gov. Users are advised to type www.ic3.gov directly, avoid sponsored search results, never share sensitive data, and remember the FBI will never ask for payment to recover funds.

⚠️ The FBI and its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) warn that seniors are being targeted by a three‑phase “Phantom Hacker” scam that combines tech‑support, financial‑institution, and U.S. government impersonations to extract life savings. Scammers typically gain trust by convincing victims to grant remote access, then prompt transfers via wire, cash, or cryptocurrency to purportedly secure accounts. The IC3 reports substantial losses—an average of US $83,000 per victim—and urges people not to allow remote access, download unsolicited software, or transfer funds at the request of unknown callers.

🔍 A surge of polished scam gambling sites has been traced to a Russian affiliate program called Gambler Panel, which provides a turnkey "fake casino" engine, marketing templates, and step-by-step fraud guides. Ads promise $2,500 promo credits and lure users into making ~$100 cryptocurrency "verification" deposits that are then milked through pressured wagering. The program touts up to 70% revenue shares, a large affiliate base, and a Telegram vetting channel.

🔒 Several cryptocurrency firms, including Chainalysis, Binance, OKX and stablecoin issuer Tether, collaborated to block $46.9m in USDT tied to a Southeast Asia-based romance baiting (pig butchering) operation. Chainalysis traced payments from hundreds of victim wallets into five collector wallets and a consolidation address before funds were moved to intermediary accounts. At the direction of an APAC law enforcement agency, Tether froze the assets in June 2024, preventing those proceeds from reaching scammers.

🔍 Fraudsters are promoting hundreds of polished fake gaming sites across Discord and other social platforms, falsely claiming partnerships with influencers and offering a $2,500 'promo code' to lure users. Visitors create free accounts to play sleek casino-style games (for example gamblerbeast[.]com's B-Ball Blitz), but cashouts are blocked and victims are prompted for a cryptocurrency 'verification deposit' and repeated payments. Investigators, including a Discord researcher and the threat-hunting firm Silent Push, linked a shared chat API key to at least 1,270 active domains and found centralized wallets, AI-assisted support, and network-wide tracking that make these scaled scams efficient and hard to report.

⚠️ Task scams are rising employment frauds that lure jobseekers with easy micro-tasks and visible “earnings,” then pressure victims to pay to unlock funds. The schemes use gamification, spoofed sites and messaging apps, often asking for cryptocurrency deposits or “level-up” fees. Victims see initial fake gains, then lose payments with no recourse. Always verify recruiters and never pay upfront.