The Ontario Securities Commission reported results from Operation Atlantic, a week-long international campaign with agencies in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada that targeted “approval phishing” scams and identified more than USD 45 million in cryptocurrency linked to fraud schemes worldwide. Investigators identified more than 20,000 cryptocurrency wallet addresses linked to fraud victims across more than 30 countries and disrupted over 120 web domains used to run the schemes. USD 12 million in fraudulent losses transferred out of victims’ wallets were frozen with the stated goal of returning funds. The operation focused on cases where victims were tricked by fake prompts into approving access that allowed criminals to take control of wallets and transfer assets. An additional USD 33 million believed to be linked to investment fraud schemes was identified for further investigation.
Ontario Securities Commission 2026-04-09
Ontario Securities Commission co-hosts Operation Atlantic freezing USD 12 million and tracing over USD 45 million tied to approval-phishing crypto fraud
The Ontario Securities Commission reported results from Operation Atlantic, a week-long international campaign with agencies in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada targeting “approval phishing” cryptocurrency scams, which identified more than USD 45 million in crypto assets linked to fraud schemes. Investigators identified over 20,000 victim wallet addresses across more than 30 countries, disrupted over 120 web domains, and froze USD 12 million in fraudulent transfers with the goal of returning funds, while a further USD 33 million suspected to be linked to investment fraud was identified.