US, UK, Canada launch joint operation to disrupt crypto fraud
17.03.2026
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The US Secret Service, UK National Crime Agency, and Canadian authorities have partnered to disrupt fraudulent schemes related to crypto, raise awareness of scams, and recover stolen funds.
Operation Atlantic: The Transatlantic Crypto Crackdown
Hold up — the feds are going global. The US Secret Service, UK National Crime Agency, and Canadian authorities just dropped a joint op called 'Operation Atlantic' to hunt down crypto scammers. This isn't just a press release — they're actively identifying victims, recovering stolen funds, and shutting down 'approval phishing' schemes in near real-time.
Brent Daniels from the US Secret Service's Office of Field Operations didn't mince words: 'Approval phishing and investment scams cost victims millions in financial loss each year.' Translation: they're coming for the fraudsters' wallets.
Here's the tech breakdown: approval phishing scams trick users into signing malicious blockchain transactions that give scammers unlimited access to drain specific tokens from their wallets. Chainalysis reports this method alone stole $2.7 billion in crypto between May 2021 and July 2024. Brutal.
Operation Atlantic builds on Canada's Project Atlas (launched in 2024 by the Ontario Provincial Police with the US Secret Service), and now includes heavy hitters like the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, City of London Police, US Attorney's Office for DC, and the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.
The Phishing Epidemic: Numbers Don't Lie
While overall crypto hacks dropped to $49 million in February (from $385 million in January), phishing attacks spiked sharply. Chainalysis launched Operation Spincaster in 2024 specifically targeting these approval phishing scams — and now international law enforcement is doubling down.
The Ontario Securities Commission confirmed this is about proactive disruption: identifying people at risk before they get drained, not just cleaning up afterward.
- • US Secret Service, UK National Crime Agency, and Canadian authorities collaborating
- • Focus: 'approval phishing' scams that trick users into granting token access
- • Goal: Identify victims, recover funds, disrupt scams in real-time
- • Built on Canada's Project Atlas from 2024
- • Additional agencies: RCMP, City of London Police, US Attorney's Office (DC), UK FCA
- • Chainalysis data: $2.7B stolen via approval phishing (May 2021-July 2024)
- • February 2026: Phishing attacks up sharply despite overall hack decrease
#crypto fraud#international cooperation#regulation#USA#phishing
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