NCA freezes $12M in crypto phishing crackdown

The National Crime Agency has frozen more than $12 million in criminal cryptocurrency proceeds during a coordinated international crackdown on approval phishing scams.

The operation, dubbed Operation Atlantic, identified over 20,000 victims across the United Kingdom, United States and Canada, highlighting the global scale of the fraud.

“We know that fraudsters operate globally and, together with our international partners, so will the NCA to target them wherever they are based,”

Said NCA Deputy Director of Investigations, Miles Bonfield.

The weeklong initiative was co-hosted with the U.S. Secret Service, Ontario Provincial Police and the Ontario Securities Commission, alongside other agencies and private sector partners.

Approval phishing scams typically trick victims into authorising access to their crypto wallets via fake investment platforms, allowing attackers to drain funds without further consent.

Investigators mapped more than $45 million in stolen cryptocurrency globally, with one UK victim alone losing over £52,000 to the scheme.

Authorities said intelligence gathered during the operation will support further investigations and victim recovery efforts, as approval phishing continues to emerge as a major threat in crypto markets.