Scams

Bybit reported that its AI-based fraud prevention framework intercepted and recovered $300 million tied to impersonation and other scams in 2025, protecting thousands of account holders. The exchange also said its models flagged hundreds of risky addresses, blocked more than 3 million credential-stuffing attempts, and structured scam response into a three-tier risk system.

Between December 8, 2025 and January 30, 2026, Binance worked with Interpol, Afripol and law enforcement in 16 African countries on Operation Red Card 2.0, which led to 651 arrests and the recovery of $4.3 million tied to scam networks linked to over $45 million in losses. The exchange is also challenging a Wall Street Journal article it calls inaccurate and defamatory, while highlighting expanded compliance resources and its role in responding to more than 71,000 law enforcement requests in the previous year.

In the fourth quarter of 2025, Bybit reported that its AI-assisted risk monitoring system disrupted or stopped more than $300 million in suspected scam-related withdrawals. The platform said around $500 million in withdrawals were flagged overall, protecting over 4,000 users, many of whom canceled transfers after receiving real-time alerts.

The United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts has filed a civil forfeiture action to seize $327,829 in USDT tied to an alleged online romance investment scam. Tether has reported freezing $4.2 billion in USDT connected to illicit activity over the past three years and was also commended for helping federal agencies seize an additional $61 million in a separate money laundering case.

Cybersecurity researchers report that "ClickFix" attacks are now being used by scammers posing as venture capital firms on LinkedIn and by hijacking the QuickLens Chrome extension. The VC-themed campaign lures victims into fake video calls, while the compromised extension was updated with malware after a February 1 ownership change and reached around 7,000 users before removal.

On a Monday ruling, Manhattan federal judge Katherine Polk Failla dismissed with prejudice a class action that tried to hold Uniswap Labs and its founder Hayden Adams liable for scam tokens allegedly involved in rug pulls and pump-and-dump schemes on the protocol. The suit, originally filed in April 2022 and amended in May after an earlier dismissal, failed to show Uniswap knew of or substantially assisted fraud by third-party token issuers.

Foom Cash, a decentralized lottery protocol using zero-knowledge proofs, suffered a $2.26 million exploit linked to a Groth16 verifier deployment error. A white hat identified the vulnerability and helped secure and return $1.84 million, with the protocol later paying a $320,000 bounty and $100,000 security fee. The incident highlights the expanding role of ethical hackers in defending Web3 projects against cross-chain attacks.

Blockchain security firm PeckShield reported that confirmed crypto hacking losses in February 2026 totaled $26.5 million across 15 incidents, marking a 98.2% drop from the $1.5 billion stolen in February 2025. The five largest exploits, led by a $10 million attack on Stellar-based YieldBlox and an $8.8 million breach of IoTeX’s ioTube bridge, made up more than 98% of the monthly total.

South Korea's Deputy Prime Minister Koo Yun-cheol ordered a cross-agency inspection of seized crypto asset management after the National Tax Service exposed a hardware wallet recovery phrase in a press release photo on Thursday. The leak led to the loss of roughly 4 million Pre-Retogeum (PRTG) tokens valued at about 6 billion won, and follows an earlier custody failure involving 22 BTC allegedly misplaced by Seoul's Gangnam police.

PeckShield reported that crypto hacks and scams totaled $26.5 million in February, the lowest monthly losses since March 2025. Of 15 incidents, a $10 million price-manipulation hit on YieldBlox’s DAO lending pool and an about $8.9 million IoTeX private key exploit on Feb. 21 comprised most of the damage. The tally fell 69.2% from just over $86 million in January.