scam

According to Hong Kong 01, the Hong Kong police updated information regarding the virtual currency Fun Coffee scam, revealing that as of August 5, a total of 255 related reports had been received, an increase of 30 from earlier, with total losses rising to approximately HKD 104 million. In addition, the Macau police arrested two women involved in 9 cases amounting to about 3.6 million Macau patacas.Regarding TVB artists who have hosted activities related to the Fun Coffee scam, the Hong Kong police stated that during the investigation, they would definitely contact the victims and relevant individuals to identify the mastermind behind the scam and their roles. Fun Coffee claims to be a large coffee investment enterprise in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, with a capital scale exceeding USD 1 billion. It entered the Hong Kong market by the end of 2025, packaging its image through marathons, banquets, social events, distributing flyers, and inviting artists to promote it, while registering a company, opening offices, and stores in Hong Kong. The actual operation was to lure citizens into downloading the app to complete tasks under the guise of investing in high-tech coffee equipment, gene optimization technology, and agricultural equipment, using Tether (USDT) and other cryptocurrencies for deposits. The platform promised annual returns of up to 197%--278%, with higher returns for larger amounts and longer deposit periods, and set up a commission structure to encourage recruitment. In July 2026, the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission listed it as a suspicious investment product. In late July of the same month, the app suddenly ceased operations, withdrawals became impossible, customer service went offline, and the offices and stores were vacated, leading to the collapse of the scam.

According to Bitcoin.com, a Bitcoin and Litecoin holder provided a 12-word mnemonic phrase to an attacker impersonating Trezor support, resulting in approximately $282 million in assets being transferred, including about $139 million in Bitcoin and $153 million in Litecoin. Blockchain forensics company ZeroShadow stated that the incident stemmed from a social engineering attack and was not due to a breach of wallet software or private key infrastructure.The stolen funds were split via the THORChain cross-chain bridge within minutes and converted to Monero through an instant exchange service. The ZeroShadow monitoring team flagged and froze approximately $700,000 in funds within 20 minutes. Under the BIP39 standard, a 12-word mnemonic phrase contains about 128 bits of entropy, while a 24-word mnemonic phrase contains 256 bits of entropy. Chainalysis estimates that up to 23% of mined Bitcoin is permanently inaccessible due to lost keys, involving millions of BTC, with reasons including forgotten mnemonic phrases, damaged backups, and lack of inheritance plans.

According to a report by Hong Kong 01, "Fun Coffee," which claims to be rooted in Vietnam, just entered Hong Kong at the end of 2025 and was warned by the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission in July 2026 for being a suspicious investment product. The company appears to be investing in the coffee business, but in reality, it is a virtual currency investment scam with annual interest rates as high as 222%, ultimately "collapsing" at the end of July.The victim group has over 370 people, with each person defrauded of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Multiple investment groups combined have a total of 4,000 people involved, with funds exceeding 1 billion Hong Kong dollars. A middle-aged woman in her 50s claims that she unknowingly became a shareholder and director of one of Fun Coffee's Hong Kong registered companies, and she has over a hundred "downlines." After being contacted by reporters, she has gone to the police to report the case. The police have received 115 reports, which have been handed over to the Commercial Crime Bureau's fraud investigation team for follow-up.The report states that Fun Coffee held a marathon event in Hong Kong at the end of last year, inviting artist Yuen Siu Cheung to host and distributing anti-fraud leaflets for promotion in various districts. The company's headquarters in Kowloon Bay and its storefront in Mong Kok are now empty, with notices of unpaid rent posted. The Securities and Futures Commission issued a warning on July 13, and the Vietnamese Ministry of Public Security also warned in May that it is suspected to be a Ponzi scheme.

According to statistics from Hong Kong law enforcement, from July 24 to 30, a total of 25 cases of investment fraud involving online romance were reported, with total losses nearing 70 million Hong Kong dollars. In one large online romance investment fraud case, a 50-year-old insurance practitioner was deceived by an online romantic partner claiming to be a "car dealer" into investing in virtual currency. Until last month, the victim discovered that the investment platform showed account earnings exceeding 800%, but when attempting to withdraw funds, the request was denied. Subsequently, both the online romantic partner and the so-called investment expert went offline, and the victim ultimately confirmed a cumulative loss of over 26 million Hong Kong dollars.The police remind investors to be vigilant about the behavior of recommending investment projects after establishing relationships through social platforms, especially those involving virtual currency, guaranteeing high returns, or requiring transactions through unfamiliar platforms. Do not relax financial safety precautions due to emotions or trust.

The FBI submitted data disclosure to the legislative committee, revealing that losses related to cryptocurrency kiosks in Texas amounted to $56.8 million in 2025, involving 1,179 complaints, making it the highest loss among all states in the U.S. The total number of related complaints nationwide was 13,460, with reported losses increasing by 58% year-on-year to $389 million. Cryptocurrency kiosks can accept cash and exchange it for cryptocurrency, typically set up at gas stations and convenience stores.Statistics from the Texas Tribune show that there are about 4,000 such devices in Texas, where scammers induce victims to withdraw money from their bank accounts and deposit it into the machines. Jesse Saucillo, Deputy Commissioner of the Texas Department of Banking, stated that once funds are transferred out, recovering them is nearly impossible, as the money typically flows into unhosted wallets and then into mixers. He added that AI-generated police and state agency impersonation content makes phone inducements more deceptive.Data from AARP indicates that since 2023, approximately 30 states in the U.S. have enacted laws related to cryptocurrency kiosks. Indiana fully banned such devices in March, followed by Tennessee and Minnesota. Texas House Committee Chairman Rep. Cole Hefner stated that the state will consider measures beyond regulatory scope.

According to Bloomberg, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has warned cryptocurrency holders that scammers are contacting some taxpayers by mailing fake letters in an attempt to steal their digital assets or personal data. The IRS stated that these letters may ask taxpayers to register for a so-called "Digital Asset Compliance Portal," which does not exist. The IRS also reminds users not to scan suspicious QR codes and not to answer or cooperate with calls requesting payment.While phishing and digital scams are not new in the cryptocurrency industry, sending fake IRS notices through physical mail seems to be a new scam tactic. Since the IRS has indeed sent letters related to digital assets to taxpayers in the past, and last year saw a surge in cryptocurrency tax filing notifications, many taxpayers are confused, which may lead scammers to exploit this familiarity for disguise. As the U.S. tax system requires taxpayers to disclose cryptocurrency activities on their tax returns, communication between the IRS and cryptocurrency holders has become more common. This also makes counterfeit tax notices more misleading. For cryptocurrency users, encountering "IRS letters" involving portal registration, QR code scanning, wallet connections, or payment requests should be treated with caution, and verification should be done through official channels.

SlowMist announced that a new recruitment scam targeting Web3 practitioners has recently been discovered. Attackers impersonate recruiters, luring victims to install an AI meeting software called "Relay," which is actually an information-stealing malware.This malware targets both macOS and Windows users and can steal sensitive information such as browser credentials, cryptocurrency wallet-related data, Keychain data, Telegram sessions, and more. SlowMist has completed sample analysis and disclosed how this attack chain operates. SlowMist reminds that when participating in online interviews or recruitment processes, one should be cautious about installing unfamiliar software, avoid running unverified applications, and pay attention to unusual installation requests or system password prompts.

According to TechCrunch, Apple has been sued over App Store security issues. Three plaintiffs claim they were induced to download a fraudulent cryptocurrency wallet app, Sparrow Wallet, which is not officially available for iOS. The plaintiffs have incurred losses totaling over $1.8 million—James Ramirez lost approximately $875,000, Christopher Ellis lost about $840,000, and Jalen Delgado lost around $120,000.The lawsuit accuses Apple of knowingly allowing fraudulent apps to remain in the App Store while using its security promises as a marketing tool to resist third-party app stores and sideloading. The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial, damages, and public disclosure of App Store risks. Apple has not commented on the lawsuit but stated that counterfeit apps violate its guidelines and will be swiftly removed. Currently, there are no counterfeit versions of Sparrow Wallet in the App Store, and over 371,000 submissions of plagiarized or misleading apps have been rejected in 2025.

According to Decrypt, the U.S. Department of Justice's District of Columbia Attorney's Office, in conjunction with the Secret Service, has filed five civil forfeiture lawsuits in court regarding investment fraud and "pig butchering" scams, seizing over $25 million in cryptocurrency assets, with victims spread across the U.S. and Canada.The largest case involves approximately $12.1 million, with over 200 victims; the amount marked by Canada is about $10.4 million, involving over 270 suspicious transactions; the remaining three cases range from $285,000 to $2.4 million, one of which involves scammers posing as "fund recovery intermediaries" to carry out secondary fraud. Investigations show that money launderers are primarily located in Southeast Asia, with involved IP addresses coming from China, Malaysia, and Cambodia. This operation is part of the "Fraud Center Task Force" established in November 2025, which has cumulatively recovered over $800 million, and the five cases are still under ongoing investigation.

On July 18 to 19, the Bangalore branch of the Indian Enforcement Directorate conducted raids at multiple locations involved in a virtual asset over-the-counter trading scam targeting overseas investors, based on the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).The criminal gang claimed to supply tokens such as MultiversX, Kava, BEAM, GRASS, SUI, VANA, and AGLD at discounted prices through private social channels, thereby enticing foreign investors to invest funds. The total amount involved in the case is approximately $35 million, initially reported by a Dutch entity.This operation has seized electronic devices, wallet credentials, and cryptocurrency assets worth 8,700 USDT. Law enforcement agencies are continuing to expand leads and dig deeper into the complete criminal chain.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced that it has filed a lawsuit against Florida resident Zan Shaikh and his company Bright Vision Distribution LLC (operating under the name Mining Automatic), accusing them of defrauding investors through a fraudulent cryptocurrency mining investment scheme, with approximately $22 million raised.The SEC stated that from June 2023 to May 2025, Shaikh and Mining Automatic promised investors fixed monthly returns by participating in cryptocurrency mining operations, but the related mining operations were actually unable to generate the promised returns. According to the SEC's complaint, Shaikh and Mining Automatic are accused of making false statements regarding their cryptocurrency mining experience, operational capabilities, the use of investment funds, and the status of the mining business, and explained payment delays by claiming they were unable to pay investor returns.

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, two Chinese citizens, Chen Zhuoying (also known as "Jolene," 27 years old, Brooklyn) and Zhang Haojie (also known as "Kevin," 38 years old, Queens), were formally charged on July 16 in federal court in Brooklyn with conspiracy to commit money laundering.According to the allegations, the two managed a money laundering network of over ten people in Queens and Brooklyn from 2020 to 2022, using approximately 45 shell companies and 140 business bank accounts to transfer at least $43 million in proceeds from "pig butchering" investment scams to accounts in China. The "pig butchering" scam contacts victims through social media or instant messaging software, gaining their trust with false high-return investment opportunities before absconding with their money. This case is being jointly investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the FBI, IRS-CI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. If convicted, both defendants face a maximum of 20 years in prison.

According to Bitcoin.com, the Singapore Police Force's Anti-Fraud Centre and Cybercrime Investigation Department, in a six-week joint anti-fraud operation from April 16 to May 31, 2026, collaborated with Coinbase, Coinhako, Gemini, Independent Reserve, OKX, StraitsX, and Upbit to identify potential fraud victims using blockchain analysis tools from Chainalysis and TRM Labs. They conducted over 145 targeted interventions through phone calls and on-site visits, preventing potential losses exceeding $4.2 million.Coinbase Singapore posted on X on July 10, stating that it collaborated with the Singapore Police to prevent over 145 individuals from losing a total of more than $4.2 million due to fraud. The Singapore Police stated that they will continue to work with cryptocurrency exchanges and other private sectors to combat cybercrime.

The cross-chain interoperability platform Relay Protocol has issued a warning, stating that since the launch of the Ethereum Layer 2 network Robinhood Chain based on Arbitrum on July 1, a large number of honeypot scam tokens have emerged. After users purchase these tokens, they automatically disappear from their wallets, and the funds cannot be recovered. Relay Protocol clarified that this is not due to a breach of wallet infrastructure; users' private keys and other assets remain secure, and the malicious logic exists only within the scam token contracts themselves.The typical operation of honeypot tokens allows users to buy in but prevents selling through hard-coded rules, or automatically transfers funds to the attacker's wallet. Some users have reported that a certain token contract uses hidden storage mappings to bypass standard ERC-20 security checks to steal assets.Relay Protocol stated that it is blocking discovered scam tokens and verifying safe tokens, advising users to only trade tokens verified by trusted sources, to verify contract addresses before trading, and to test with small amounts of funds first. The platform pointed out that attracting scammers in the early stages of a new chain launch is not an issue unique to Robinhood Chain; similar situations have occurred with other L1 and L2 chains upon their launch.

According to Cryptopolitan, data released by law enforcement in Texas shows that residents of the state suffered financial losses totaling up to $56.8 million from cryptocurrency ATM scams in the past year. An estimated 1,200 Texas residents have fallen victim to such scams.The typical method of operation for cryptocurrency ATM scams involves scammers impersonating government agencies or company staff over the phone, falsely claiming that the victims are involved in legal issues or owe money, and demanding that victims go to a cryptocurrency ATM to convert cash into cryptocurrency and transfer it to a designated address. Due to the irreversibility of cryptocurrency transactions and a certain degree of anonymity, once the funds are transferred, it is extremely difficult to recover them. Texas has become one of the hardest-hit areas for cryptocurrency ATM scams in the United States, and state regulators are strengthening public education and prevention measures to remind residents to be vigilant against such new types of scams.

The China Payment and Clearing Association has issued a warning to prevent cross-border gambling scams involving virtual currency, aimed at helping the general public enhance their awareness of fraud prevention and their ability to recognize scams.The China Payment and Clearing Association reminds that cross-border gambling results in "ten bets, ten losses." Participating in gambling through virtual currency is more concealed and risky. Engaging in gambling and providing funding for gambling activities is illegal and against regulations. Do not participate in virtual currency gambling transactions, and maintain the bottom line of financial security.

According to The Block, Florida man Christopher Alexander Delgado (34 years old) pleaded guilty to charges of telecommunications fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and money laundering. His company Goliath Ventures carried out a Ponzi scheme under the guise of investing in cryptocurrency liquidity pools, raising over $400 million from investors and causing actual losses of at least $250 million.The funds were used to purchase six luxury homes valued between $1.15 million and $8.5 million, multiple Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces, as well as a large number of Rolex watches, Louis Vuitton bags, and Tiffany custom jewelry. Delgado has agreed to forfeit eight properties, 11 vehicles, 30 watches, over 50 luxury bags, and 29 pieces of jewelry. Each fraud charge carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, while the money laundering charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reminds victims of the OneCoin international cryptocurrency investment scam that they can apply for compensation through a special program by the Department of Justice (DOJ) before the deadline.This process allows individuals who purchased OneCoin and suffered direct financial losses due to the OneCoin scheme between 2014 and 2019 to submit applications. Victims can submit applications via mail, email, or an online form. However, submitting an application does not guarantee financial compensation.The DOJ stated that global investors in OneCoin have collectively lost over $4 billion.

A New York man was sentenced to 15 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release by a U.S. court for impersonating a cryptocurrency influencer on Telegram and using false staking returns as bait to defraud investors. 39-year-old Noman Saleem pleaded guilty to wire fraud in September 2025.Prosecutors stated that he created multiple fake Telegram accounts impersonating well-known crypto KOLs and attracted thousands of people to join his channels, even setting up paid "VIP sub-channels." Saleem claimed to victims that he could provide "guaranteed returns" through crypto staking or investment opportunities, inducing many to transfer their crypto assets into wallets under his control. However, prosecutors indicated that he did not actually engage in any staking operations and ceased communication after obtaining the funds, taking the victims' assets with him.The case resulted in losses exceeding $1.4 million, and the U.S. government has recovered and seized most of the funds.

According to on-chain analyst ZachXBT, an address related to the $575 million Hashflare investment scam (0xff57...5d22) has transferred 10,600 ETH (approximately $18.5 million) about 3 hours ago after being dormant for 3.5 years.The two Estonian founders of the case, Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin, pleaded guilty in 2025 and forfeited approximately $450 million in assets to the U.S. government. The transferred funds were then laundered through HiFiSwap and Near Intents, crossing from Ethereum to Bitcoin, using two instant exchange platforms. The fund flow addresses include 0xc82f...9d04 and 0x3297...2527.