Scams
London’s Metropolitan Police Lead Disruption of Phishing-as-a-Service Provider LabHost
On April 17, 2024, London’s Metropolitan Police announced the disruption of LabHost, a notorious phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) provider that enabled cybercriminals…
The On-chain Footprint of Southeast Asia’s ‘Pig Butchering’ Compounds: Human Trafficking, Ransoms, and Hundreds of Millions Scammed
Romance scams, also known as “pig butchering scams” for the way bad actors say they “fatten up” their victims to…
The Rise of Malicious DApps in Web3 with Raz Niv – Ep 92
Episode 92 of the Public Key podcast is here! When we were recording this episode with Raz Niv (Co-founder and…
2024 Crypto Crime Trends: Illicit Activity Down as Scamming and Stolen Funds Fall, But Ransomware and Darknet Markets See Growth
2023 was a year of recovery for cryptocurrency, as the industry rebounded from the scandals, blowups, and price declines of…
Targeted Approval Phishing Scams See Explosive Growth Over Last Two Years, With At Least $374 Million Suspected Stolen in 2023
Approval phishing is a scamming tactic that has existed for many years. But whereas approval phishing scammers have historically targeted…
Investigating the World of Pig Butchering And Crypto Scams: Podcast Ep. 72
Episode 72 of the Public Key podcast is here! We’ve all received that random text message, that seems like a…
Cryptocurrency Mining Pools and Money Laundering: Two Real World Examples
Cryptocurrency mining is a crucial part of our industry, but it also holds special appeal to bad actors, as it…
Inside the iSpoof Blockchain Investigation: This Fraud Tool Helped Scammers Steal Over £100 Million
On May 19, 2023, Tejay Fletcher, the administrator behind the fraud-enabling website iSpoof, was sentenced to more than 13 years…
Fraud Shop Genesis Market Shut Down in International Law Enforcement Operation, Sanctioned by OFAC
On April 4, 2023, authorities shut down popular fraud shop Genesis Market and arrested hundreds of its users around the…
How Law Enforcement is Combating Pig Butchering Crypto Scams: Podcast Ep. 45
Episode 45 of the Public Key podcast is here! In this episode, we go coast to coast to talk to…
Everything You Need To Know About Crypto Market Manipulation: Podcast Ep. 44
Episode 44 of the Public Key podcast is here! In this episode, we talk with international terrorism consultant and founder…
Crypto Scam Revenue Dropped 46% in 2022, While Blockchain Analysis Finds Links Between What Appear to be Distinct Scams
While scams remain the largest form of cryptocurrency-based crime (that is, if we ignore transactions associated with OFAC-sanctioned entities, which…
U.S. Authorities Move Against High-Risk Exchange Bitzlato for Providing Money Laundering Services to Ransomware Attackers and Other Russia-based Criminals
Today, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the arrest of Russian national Anatoly Legkodymov for his role as founder and…
2023 Crypto Crime Trends: Illicit Cryptocurrency Volumes Reach All-Time Highs Amid Surge in Sanctions Designations and Hacking
Every year, we publish our estimates of illicit cryptocurrency activity to demonstrate the power of blockchains’ transparency – these kinds…
Ethereum Merge Scams: How Scammers Took Advantage of The Ethereum Merge to Make Millions
We’re now six weeks past the Merge, as Ethereum underwent its switch from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) on September…