Europopol is a bust of $ 540 million

The Spanish authorities, with the support of Europol and Law enforcement from Estonia, France and the United States, dismantled a large fraud network in investment currencies responsible for washing 460 million euros, at a value of approximately $ 540 million, from more than 5,000 victims worldwide.

On June 25, Civil Guardia arrested five individuals, three in the Canary Islands and two in Madrid, and five targeted searches across these sites.

Campaign

EURPOL joined the investigation in 2023, when its financial crime team was providing operational support, coordination and strategic assessments.

According to the official press releaseThe law enforcement agency has published an encryption specialist in Spain on the working day to support local investigators. The arrests and seizures are a great disruption of the group’s operations, which affected the victims throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas.

At the heart of this criminal institution, it was a complex international network aimed at attracting investors and fraud under the guise of profitable investment opportunities. The scheme was operated by a large -scale sales structure, which included global partners who were assigned to seek investments through phone calls, email messages and social media platforms.

These individuals persuade the victims to transfer money through a mixture of cash withdrawals, bank transfers, and cryptocurrencies. Investigators believe that the leaders of the Foundation directed this process in accurate coordination, through the use of front companies and representatives of the agent to preserve the illusion of legitimacy, while directing stolen assets in the accounts controlled by the network.

To manage and conceal the movement of stolen boxes, the criminal network has created a complicated banking and companies in Hong Kong, and the payment gates and user accounts registered under wrong identities increased by the exchange of multiple cryptocurrencies.

In a statement, Europol said,

“Online fraud is an epidemic that affects the citizens of the European Union, companies and public institutions alike. The size, diversity, development and access to online fraud plans are unprecedented. EUROPOL is expected online fraud to surpass other types of serious and organized crimes as they are accelerated by artificial intelligence, social engineering assistant and access to data.”

Bitcoin criminal use, Monero, and Stablecoins in fraud

Europol was previously I mentioned This bitcoin is still the best option for criminals, especially ransom groups, due to their access. However, Monero, which focuses on privacy, was also witnessing an increasing dependence among criminals who sought not to reveal his identity.

The agency also shed light on investment fraud using Tether (USDT) on TRON for low -information transactions. He also pointed to the increase in the use of encrypted correspondence applications and underground banking services for cash exchanges to drink, which led to the complexity of law enforcement efforts due to privacy laws and service providers abroad.