This past week, Eurojust announced the results of an international operation that has been credited with dismantling a transnational criminal network, which is said to have been behind one of the largest crypto investment fraud schemes uncovered to date. TRM Labs noted in an extensive blog post that the coordinated action, carried out across France, Belgium, Cyprus, Germany, and Spain, led “to nine arrests, 60 searches, and the seizure of over EUR 1.5 million in cash and crypto assets.”
TRM Labs also mentioned that authorities are now estimating that the fraud network stole and laundered over EUR 600 million from unsuspecting victims across the globe.
Between the dates of 2020 and 2023, the suspects had allegedly created and managed various fraudulent crypto investment platforms that seemingly mimicked legit exchanges as well as trading services.
TRM Labs further stated that using sophisticated marketing campaigns, fake endorsements, and fabricated online reviews, the perpetrators are said to have lured victims with so-called false promises of “guaranteed” profits and low-risk returns.
According to the update from TRM Labs, the platforms had displayed simulated trading dashboards showing “false account growth to build confidence among investors.”
After the unsuspecting victims transferred funds, they were then prevented from withdrawing funds or even asked to pay additional “taxes” or “fees,” after which communication ceased and the platforms disappeared.”
TRM Labs pointed out that investigators determined that the stolen assets were rapidly “converted into stablecoins and moved through complex laundering structures — including over-the-counter brokers, unlicensed exchanges, and nested services — before being cashed out.”
As noted by the blockchain analytics firm, these flows mirrored typologies seen in other high-volume “pig butchering” and romance-investment scams: schemes built on social engineering instead of technology exploits.
According to TRM Labs, investment scams like these remain “among the largest and fastest-growing categories of illicit activity in the crypto ecosystem.”
Since 2023, TRM has tracked more than “USD 53 billion in fraud and scams across the industry — a figure likely underreported given that only 15–20% of victims come forward.”
Many of these scams share “common hallmarks: social contact initiated through messaging apps or dating sites, promises of “guaranteed” returns, and pressure to invest quickly in platforms that cannot be independently verified.”
The investigation started following complaints from victims in EU member states and was then said to have been coordinated by Eurojust, which formed a Joint Investigation Team between France and Belgium.
Judicial and law enforcement authorities from Cyprus, Germany, and Spain later joined. In France, the operation was “led by the Investigative Judge of the Paris JUNALCO Cybercrime Unit and the Gendarmerie Nationale Cyber Unit. In Belgium, it was directed by the PPO Limburg and the Federal Judicial Police Limburg.”
In Cyprus, the investigation was said to have been “managed by the Attorney General’s Office, the Financial Intelligence Unit MOKAS, and the Cyprus Police.”
In Germany, it was reportedly led by “the Public Prosecutor’s Office Cologne and the Cologne Criminal Police. In Spain, the Prosecutor’s Office Barcelona, Investigative Court No. 5 in Vilanova i la Geltrú, the Mossos d’Esquadra Cybercrime Central Area, and the Policía Nacional oversaw local enforcement actions.”
As noted in the update from TRM Labs, Eurojust coordinated the timing of arrests and searches, “facilitated evidence sharing among the participating jurisdictions, and ensured mutual legal assistance with non-EU countries.”
More than EUR 800,000 in bank accounts, “EUR 415,000 in cryptocurrency, and EUR 300,000 in cash were seized, alongside computers, mobile phones, and other digital infrastructure tied to the fraud.”
This operation highlights the ongoing convergence of traditional fraud with digital financial systems — large-scale social engineering operations that are now being “powered by cryptocurrency infrastructure and global laundering channels.”
TRM Labs concluded that it also reflects a growing international consensus that combating these scams “require real-time data sharing, public-private partnerships, and cross-border investigative cooperation.”