Crypto scammers steal $1.2M from UK residents using fake police reports

Crypto scammers stole over 1 million British pounds ($1.2 million) from nine residents in Kent, England, after gaining access to their personal information from a data leak.

On March 1, Kent Police urged residents to be vigilant against ongoing cryptocurrency fraud attempts. Bad actors accessed the Kent residents’ personal information and misused it to generate fake reports from the United Kingdom’s national reporting center, Action Fraud.

“Personal details were taken from the data leak and used to generate fake Action Fraud reports,” the police said.

Scammers created fake reports and then posed as law enforcement to contact potential victims. The victims were informed that they were under investigation and would be receiving a call from the “crypto wallet host.”

Creating fake police reports using leaked user data

All victims noted that they received a second call in which a “security officer” coerced them into sharing their crypto wallet seed phrases. A seed phrase is a 12- or 24-word combination allowing crypto wallet access.

“With that information, the fraudsters were able to rebuild the wallet, steal the funds and transfer them so that they can’t be recovered,” the police alert stated.

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Detective Sergeant Darryll Paulson asked Kent residents not to give away personal information over the phone to anyone claiming to be the police or a crypto host:

“Scammers are becoming increasingly more calculating in their methods to defraud their victims into losing a substantial amount of money and will often create urgency in the situation, such as telling them they need to act now to stop their funds from being stolen.”

Attempts to minimize the damage from data leak

In total, the nine victims lost more than $1.2 million to the scam stemming from the data leak.

Paulson also urged other victims to report scams without embarrassment, adding that “it only takes a second to be distracted and fall victim.”

Crypto investors are advised against sharing seed phrases with anyone as it will provide them complete access to funds and the capacity to transfer or withdraw from it at will.

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