U.S., UK and Canada launch operation targeting crypto phishing schemes
Law enforcement agencies in the U.S., the U.K. and Canada have announced the launch of a joint international initiative called Operation Atlantic, aimed at disrupting criminal networks using approval-phishing schemes to steal cryptocurrency. The operation involves the U.S. Secret Service, the U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA), the Ontario Provincial Police and the Ontario Securities Commission.
Additional participants include the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, the City of London Police, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia and the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), according to a report by The Block.
Organizers say the operation is being conducted in cooperation with private-sector partners. Its goals include identifying potential victims, recovering stolen funds and raising public awareness about cryptocurrency fraud.
A representative of the U.S. Secret Service said the operation is designed to detect and disrupt fraudulent schemes almost in real time, preventing criminals from profiting from such activities.
How approval-phishing schemes work
In these attacks, scammers trick users into signing malicious transactions that grant them full control over victims’ crypto wallets. Typically, users receive fake alerts or pop-up messages that appear to come from trusted applications and request approval for access.Once the transaction is signed, attackers can drain the entire wallet, and due to the irreversible nature of blockchain transactions, recovering the funds is often extremely difficult. These scams are frequently linked to investment fraud schemes known as “pig butchering.” For example, crypto scammers in the United States previously stole $61 million from victims of romance scams.
Scale of crypto phishing attacks
According to blockchain security firm Scam Sniffer, users lost $83.85 million to approval-phishing scams on EVM-compatible blockchains in 2025. That figure represents an 83% decline from the $494 million recorded in 2024.The number of victims also fell to 106,106 users, down 68% year-over-year. The largest single theft in 2025 totaled $6.5 million.
However, analysts note that scam operations are becoming increasingly industrialized. For instance, the China-linked Smishing Triad group reportedly operated a phishing toolkit platform called Lighthouse, which generated more than $1.5 million over several years.
Earlier it was reported that identity spoofing, social engineering and artificial intelligence are increasingly merging into a single coordinated system used to steal cryptocurrencies.
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