Scams

On 9 February 2026, a U.S. federal court in California sentenced fugitive defendant Daren Li to 20 years in prison for laundering more than $73.6 million tied to cryptocurrency investment scams. The 42-year-old dual national of China and St. Kitts and Nevis was found to have used U.S. shell companies and bank accounts to move victim funds into digital assets. Li, who removed his ankle monitor and absconded in December 2025, will also face three years of supervised release if taken into custody.

In January, one crypto user lost $12.25 million after copying an incorrect wallet address, and another user lost $50 million in a similar incident in December. Signature phishing attacks in January stole $6.27 million from 4,741 victims, a 207% rise from the previous month, while a separate address poisoning case in November led to a loss of about $3.08 million in PYTH tokens. Non-custodial wallet Safe has warned of a coordinated campaign using thousands of lookalike multisig addresses, and says it has flagged around 5,000 malicious addresses in its interface.

Chinese-language crypto marketplace Xinbi has facilitated $17.9 billion in transactions and received $8.9 billion in crypto, despite being removed from Telegram in May 2025 and facing U.S. regulatory action. After the crackdown, operators shifted activity to the SafeW messaging app and its XinbiPay wallet, while rival services Huione, Haowang, and Tudou saw their operations collapse. Since 2022, Xinbi has processed at least $16.4 billion in trades and remains a key hub for illicit services.

The abduction occurred around February 4–5, 2026; the two victims were found Friday morning in the Dr\u00f4me region. Prosecutors said on Sunday that six suspects, including a minor, have been detained in a cryptocurrency ransom case, with three held overnight and two on Sunday morning, and two of the suspects intercepted while attempting to take a bus to Spain.

Ethereum has faced persistent address poisoning as daily transactions reached all-time highs into 2026. According to ScamSniffer, a user lost $50 million in December and another lost $12.25 million in January, with address poisoning losses over those two months exceeding phishing. A January report also logged $6.27 million stolen via signature phishing across 4,741 victims.

Two California teenagers, aged 16 and 17, were charged after a Jan. 31 home invasion in Scottsdale allegedly aimed at seizing $66 million in cryptocurrency. Police intervened during the attack, recovered restraints and a 3D‑printed gun, and later released both on $50,000 bail with electronic monitoring as prosecutors seek to try them as adults.

The Ontario Provincial Police warned that callers posing as officers are directing residents to withdraw cash or send funds via crypto, with individual losses ranging from $6,000 to $13,000. On February 6, 2026, OPP East Region also flagged a surge in crypto job fraud exploiting real company names and small commissions. As of September 30, 2025, Canada recorded $544 million in fraud losses across 23,113 victims.

On February 5, 2026, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators introduced the Safeguarding Consumers from Advertising Misconduct (SCAM) Act, requiring social platforms to verify advertisers and exposing noncompliant companies to FTC and state attorney general actions. In 2025, Reuters reported Meta’s internal estimates tied roughly $16 billion of 2024 revenue to suspect ads, prompting calls for SEC and FTC probes, while major banking associations and AARP voiced support for the bill.

A dataset containing 149 million stolen credentials, including access details for about 420,000 Binance accounts, was reported circulating among cybercriminals this week. Security researchers say the information comes from infostealing malware that harvests passwords, private keys, API keys and session tokens from infected devices. Recent data also indicates multi‑billion‑dollar crypto losses and rising attacks on exchanges and large organizations.

Crypto PR firm Chainstory said in a study released Tuesday that more than 60% of 2,893 industry press releases were linked to high‑risk or confirmed scam projects. It found only about 2% met publication standards for genuinely newsworthy updates, as paid wire services and niche outlets often guarantee placement with limited editorial checks.