North Wales Police in the UK have launched an investigation into the theft of bitcoins totaling $2.8 million (£2.1 million). The scammer posed as a senior detective to gain the victim's trust. In a police statement, it was mentioned that this case "highlights a new alarming trend targeting cryptocurrency owners using cold storage devices."
At the current stage of the investigation, it is assumed that the victim's data may have been compromised due to a data leak, allowing the scammer to implement a complex and targeted scheme.
Scam Scheme
The victim was called by a "UK law enforcement officer" who claimed that their personal data had been found on the phone of a recently arrested criminal. The scammer then used intimidation tactics to convince the victim to "secure their assets" by accessing their cold storage device through a phishing link. Believing they were communicating with a police officer, the victim followed the instructions and visited a fake website. The scammer needed only a few minutes to withdraw the bitcoins.
Police Response
The police urged investors and cryptocurrency holders to be more vigilant and emphasized that real detectives never call citizens to discuss their crypto assets or cold storage devices.
Previously, the FBI in the USA had warned about a similar scheme: scammers posed as employees of cryptocurrency exchanges, reported alleged problems with the account, and gained access to wallets through deception.
In April, the FBI in the USA published its annual report on cybercrime for the year 2024 (IC3). Over the year, the Internet Crime Complaint Center received 859,532 complaints regarding incidents online.
