Five arrested in crypto fraud investigation as Met appeals to thousands of potential victims

Detectives from the Met Police’s Economic Crime team have arrested five men as part of an ongoing investigation into a large-scale cryptocurrency investment fraud.

It’s believed thousands of victims may have lost in excess of a million pounds.

The investigation centres on a sophisticated fraud technique involving several websites that claim to offer pre-sale investment opportunities in new cryptocurrencies.

These new cryptocurrencies are sold with proposed returns in cash that will double or more in value when listed.

Except, as the team have found, these websites rarely have any intention to list them on exchange websites, and returns in cash are impossible to guarantee.

The list of sites include the following:

• DTX Exchange: dtxexchange.com
• Intel Markets: intelmarkets.io
• Cryptids: cryptidsgame.io
• Algo Tech Trades: algotech.trade
• Unilabs Finance: unilabs.finance

Some of these websites have previously operated under different domain names, making them harder to track and increasing the risk to investors.

It’s currently assessed that victims have been promised significant returns – often 100 per cent or more – on the basis that the tokens would be listed on major exchanges.

The policing team’s enquiries to date indicate there was no genuine intention to list these tokens, and that the investments had no underlying value.

A “boiler room” operation, based in London, is suspected of making follow-up calls to victims to encourage further investment.

Losses are believed to have run into millions of pounds and affected thousands of victims in the capital and beyond.

As part of the investigation, officers will be seeking to contact people who may have been impacted by this scheme. However, if you believe you have been a victim of this fraud, please report it urgently to Action Fraud here or call 0300 123 2040.

Detective Sergeant Stephen Bourne, from the Metropolitan Police Service, said:

“We recognise the devastating impact that fraud can have on people and that’s why we’re committed to investigating crimes of this nature and supporting those affected.

“These websites are highly convincing and use professional-looking content, fake endorsements and aggressive marketing tactics to lure people in. Once cryptocurrency is sent, it is almost impossible to recover. If you have any doubts, please do not invest.

“Though we are still very much in the early stages of the investigation, we believe this crime is affecting victims in every corner of the world and strongly advise members of the public not to engage with or invest through the websites listed.”

The Met urges anyone considering investing in cryptocurrency to carry out thorough research and check the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) warning list before parting with any cryptocurrency.

For advice on how to protect yourself from cryptocurrency-related crime, download the Met’s Little Book of Crypto Crime here.

The arrests relating to this investigation took place at several addresses across London on Wednesday, 1 October.

The five men, aged between 21 and 37, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud and taken to custody for questioning. They have since been bailed pending further enquiries.