Scams
Bridging The Public-Private Sector Gap in Crypto: Podcast Ep. 150
Welcome to season 3 of the Public Key podcast! New Season, New Hosts, New Look. “We should be able to…
Crypto Scam Revenue 2024: Pig Butchering Grows Nearly 40% YoY as Fraud Industry Leverages AI and Increases in Sophistication
In 2024, cryptocurrency scams received at least $9.9 billion on-chain, an estimate that will increase as we identify more illicit…
The Scamdemic: New Age of Crypto, AI and Fraud: Podcast Ep. 149
Welcome to season 3 of the Public Key podcast! New Season, New Hosts, New Look. A Scamdemic is something we…
2025 Crypto Crime Trends: Illicit Volumes Portend Record Year as On-Chain Crime Becomes Increasingly Diverse and Professionalized
In recent years, cryptocurrency has become increasingly mainstream. Although illicit activity on-chain previously revolved heavily around cybercrime, cryptocurrency is now…
Operation Spincaster lands in Delta: Local police equipped to trace and freeze millions from scam wallet
In 2024, scams with a crypto nexus surged, becoming one of the most lucrative areas of illicit activity YTD, earning…
Building Bridges to Tackle Pig Butchering: Podcast Ep. 133
Episode 133 of the Public Key podcast is here! Erin West has been on this podcast 3 times and all…
2024 Crypto Crime Mid-year Update Part 2: China-based CSAM and Cybercrime Networks On The Rise, Pig Butchering Scams Remain Lucrative
Sensitive content warning This article will touch on topics of criminal activity that readers may find distressing, including Child Sexual…
London’s Metropolitan Police Lead Disruption of Phishing-as-a-Service Provider LabHost
On April 17, 2024, London’s Metropolitan Police announced the disruption of LabHost, a notorious phishing-as-a-service (PhaaS) provider that enabled cybercriminals…
The On-chain Footprint of Southeast Asia’s ‘Pig Butchering’ Compounds: Human Trafficking, Ransoms, and Hundreds of Millions Scammed
Romance scams, also known as “pig butchering scams” for the way bad actors say they “fatten up” their victims to…
The Rise of Malicious DApps in Web3 with Raz Niv – Ep 92
Episode 92 of the Public Key podcast is here! When we were recording this episode with Raz Niv (Co-founder and…
2024 Crypto Crime Trends: Illicit Activity Down as Scamming and Stolen Funds Fall, But Ransomware and Darknet Markets See Growth
2023 was a year of recovery for cryptocurrency, as the industry rebounded from the scandals, blowups, and price declines of…
Targeted Approval Phishing Scams See Explosive Growth Over Last Two Years, With At Least $374 Million Suspected Stolen in 2023
Approval phishing is a scamming tactic that has existed for many years. But whereas approval phishing scammers have historically targeted…
Investigating the World of Pig Butchering And Crypto Scams: Podcast Ep. 72
Episode 72 of the Public Key podcast is here! We’ve all received that random text message, that seems like a…
Cryptocurrency Mining Pools and Money Laundering: Two Real World Examples
Cryptocurrency mining is a crucial part of our industry, but it also holds special appeal to bad actors, as it…
Inside the iSpoof Blockchain Investigation: This Fraud Tool Helped Scammers Steal Over £100 Million
On May 19, 2023, Tejay Fletcher, the administrator behind the fraud-enabling website iSpoof, was sentenced to more than 13 years…