INSPECTING ARCHIVED INTELLIGENCE (OUTDATED VERSION).

Operation Atlantic Seizes $12m in Crypto Losses from Hackers

| 2026-04-13 08:00 LOW LOW LAW ENFORCEMENT
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Executive Summary
AI-generated
Law enforcement agencies in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Canada have teamed up to combat approval phishing scams. The operation, led by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) with support from the US Secret Service, Ontario Provincial Police, and Ontario Securities Commission, identified over 20,000 victims of these scams worldwide. In this initiative, $33m was also found stolen in crypto fraud, while a separate operation, Operation Atlantic, resulted in freezing $12m thought to have been lost via similar scams. Approval phishing involves tricking victims into providing full access to their cryptocurrency wallets by spoofed alerts or popups. The current status of these operations is that they have safeguarded thousands of victims and disrupted multiple fraud networks, with the NCA claiming it has shown what's possible when international agencies team up with private sector support from major companies like Binance and Chainalysis.
Technical Mitigations AI-generated
• Block or hunt for web domains used by scammers to conduct fraudulent schemes. • Detect approval phishing scams using techniques that involve romance fraud techniques to build trust with victims before convincing them to sign approval transactions. • Patch Binance, Coinbase, Tether and blockchain analytics firms Elliptics, TRM Labs and Chainalysis versions to prevent cryptocurrency-related crime.
Intelligence Metadata
Actors / Malware / CVEs / Campaigns
Operation Atlantic SeizesOperation Atlantic SeizesOperation AtlanticOperation Atlantic
Target & Sectors
NORTH_AMERICA NORTH_AMERICA cryptocurrencycryptocurrency governmentgovernment
Incident Timeline
‎2026/04/13
Threat actors used approval phishing to trick victims into providing full access to their cryptocurrency wallets, resulting in the estimated $1 billion loss of funds between May 2021 and December 2023.
victims 20,000 victims
Law enforcement agencies in the UK, US and Canada have teamed up in an ambitious initiative which has already identified more than 20,000 victims of so-called “approval phishing.”
financial $33 Commission
The operation, led by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) with support from the US Secret Service, Ontario Provincial Police and Ontario Securities Commission, also identified a further $33m stolen in crypto fraud.
financial $215 $ estimated m.
Phishing accounted for an estimated $215m. According to a Chainalysis report , approval phishing scams made scammers at least $1bn between May 2021 and December 2023.
financial $12 Stolen / Extorted Funds
Operation Atlantic Seizes $12m in Crypto Losses.
victims 3000 victims
The partners identified over 20,000 crypto wallets linked to fraud victims across more than 30 countries, and contacted 3000 victims during this phase of the operation.
infrastructure 120 web domains
They also identified and disrupted over 120 web domains used by scammers to conduct fraudulent schemes.
Tactical Metrics
Metrics
victims
20,000
Victims
Law enforcement agencies in the UK, US and Canada have teamed up in an ambitious initiative which has already identified more than 20,000 victims of so-called “approval phishing.”
Metrics
financial
33,000,000
Commission
The operation, led by the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA) with support from the US Secret Service, Ontario Provincial Police and Ontario Securities Commission, also identified a further $33m stolen in crypto fraud.
Metrics
financial
215
$ Estimated M.
Phishing accounted for an estimated $215m. According to a Chainalysis report , approval phishing scams made scammers at least $1bn between May 2021 and December 2023.
Metrics
financial
12,000,000
Stolen / Extorted Funds
Operation Atlantic Seizes $12m in Crypto Losses.
Metrics
victims
3,000
Victims
The partners identified over 20,000 crypto wallets linked to fraud victims across more than 30 countries, and contacted 3000 victims during this phase of the operation.
Metrics
infrastructure
120
Web Domains
They also identified and disrupted over 120 web domains used by scammers to conduct fraudulent schemes.
Intelligence Sources
Infosecurity-Magazine 2026-04-13
Infosecurity-Magazine 2026-04-13