European Crypto Scam Network Dismantled After Laundering $815M

Policy Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email European Crypto Scam Network Dismantled After Laundering $815M Authorities across Europe took down a massive crypto fraud and laundering network tied to fake investment platforms, deepfake ads and call-center operations. By Jamie Crawley , AI Boost | Edited by Stephen Alpher Dec 5, 2025, 3:22 p.m. What to know : A coordinated international sweep has dismantled a crypto fraud network that stole and laundered more than $815 million through fake investment platforms. The scheme relied on aggressive call-center tactics, deepfake-driven ad campaigns and complex laundering flows across multiple blockchains. Police raids across Europe led to arrests, asset seizures and the takedown of both the scam platforms and their affiliate-marketing infrastructure. A sprawling crypto-investment fraud network that stole and laundered more than 700 million euros ($815 million) has been dismantled following coordinated raids across Europe. The criminal group ran a slew of fake crypto-trading platforms that promised high returns through slick marketing campaigns, Europol announced on Thursday . STORY CONTINUES BELOW Don't miss another story. Subscribe to the State of Crypto Newsletter today . See all newsletters Sign me up By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . Victims, drawn in by "sophisticated" ads, were funneled into call centers where operators used social-engineering tactics to coax further deposits. Once funds were transferred, they were siphoned away and laundered through a maze of blockchains and exchanges. The first wave of action on Oct. 27 saw coordinated raids in Cyprus, Germany and Spain, resulting in nine arrests and the seizure of bank funds, crypto assets, cash, electronics and luxury goods. A second sweep on Nov. 25-26 targeted the affiliate-marketing infrastructure that fed the scheme, disrupting the companies behind fraudulent ad campaigns and data-harvesting operations used to identify potential victims. Investigators say the scheme evolved far beyond a single scam site, operating multiple fraudulent platforms supported by sophisticated financial and advertising infrastructure. With arrests made and key servers seized, authorities will continue tracing assets linked to the network across Europe and beyond. The operation underscores how crypto-investment scams have scaled — and how deeply they depend on cross-border laundering, data exploitation and deceptive marketing to function. Europol's announcement of the bust comes only days after the law-enforcement agency revealed the takedown of a crypto-mixing service alleged to to have laundered more than $1.51 billion in bitcoin BTC $ 90,977.49 . Europe Europol Fraud Crime AI Disclaimer: Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards . For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy . More For You Protocol Research: GoPlus Security By CoinDesk Research Nov 14, 2025 Commissioned by GoPlus What to know : As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M. GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month. Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B. View Full Report More For You Uniswap's Lindsay Fraser to Run Policy Shop at Blockchain Association By Jesse Hamilton | Edited by Nikhilesh De 1 hour ago The incoming policy chief arrives as the crypto industry seeks to influence the market structure bill in Congress, including its heavy DeFi implications. What to know : The Blockchain Association has hired its new chief policy officer, Lindsay Fraser, from one of its member companies, Uniswap Labs. She's been working on DeFi policy efforts, which will translate directly into some of the policy priorities at the association. 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