Europol busted a crypto scam ring that laundered €460M from 5,000+ victims. Operation Borrelli involved Spain, the U.S., France, and Estonia.
Europol has taken down a massive cryptocurrency fraud ring that scammed over 5,000 people worldwide, laundering around €460 million ($540 million). The international operation, dubbed Operation Borrelli, began in 2023 and was led by Spain’s Guardia Civil with help from law enforcement in Estonia, France, and the U.S.
Scammers lure victims via chats or dating apps in crypto romance scams, then steal money through fake platforms and hide it via complex transfers.
Law enforcement arrested five members of a criminal network engaged in cryptocurrency investment fraud and performed 5 searches between the Canary Islands and Madrid.
The criminal network allegedly used global associates and a Hong Kong-based corporate and banking setup to move illicit funds via cash, bank, and crypto transfers.
“To carry out their fraudulent activities, the leaders of the criminal network allegedly used a net of associates spread around the world to raise funds through cash withdrawals, bank transfers and crypto-transfers.” reads the press release published by Europol. “Investigators suspect the criminal organisation of having set up a corporate and banking network based in Hong Kong, allegedly using payment gateways and user accounts in the names of different people and in different exchanges to receive, store and transfer criminal funds. The investigation is ongoing.”
Online fraud is a top threat to EU security, with rising scale and sophistication. Europol warns it may surpass other crimes, driven by AI and data access.
“Online fraud is one of the main key threats to the EU’s internal security identified in Europol’s Serious and Organised Criminal Threat Assessment (EU SOCTA), published in March 2025. Online fraud is an epidemic affecting EU citizens, businesses and public institutions alike. The scale, variety, sophistication and reach of online fraud schemes is unprecedented.” concludes the press release. “Europol expects online fraud to outpace other types of serious and organised crime as it is being accelerated by AI, aiding social engineering and access to data.”
Follow me on Twitter: @securityaffairs and Facebook and Mastodon
(SecurityAffairs – hacking, cybercrime)
