Law enforcement agencies from the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada have successfully frozen over $12 million in cryptocurrency linked to large-scale scams in a coordinated international crackdown named Operation Atlantic. The operation, which took place in March, was led by the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) in partnership with the U.S. Secret Service, the Ontario Provincial Police, and the Ontario Securities Commission.
The joint effort focused specifically on combating "approval phishing" attacks, a sophisticated scam where victims are tricked into signing malicious on-chain permissions, granting attackers direct access to drain tokens from their wallets. Authorities identified more than 20,000 victims across the three nations and secured the frozen funds. Furthermore, the NCA stated that the operation identified "more than $45 million stolen in cryptocurrency fraud schemes" linked to the same criminal infrastructure.
Private sector collaboration was a key component of the operation's success. Major cryptocurrency exchange Binance provided on-site support at the NCA's London headquarters, with its Special Investigations team offering live account screening, scam intelligence, and research to identify active fraudulent websites. Binance's senior regional advisor, Flavio Tonon, emphasized that "approval phishing is one of the most damaging types of scams targeting crypto users today." The company clarified that no funds were frozen on Binance accounts as part of the operation.
NCA Deputy Director of Investigations Miles Bonfield hailed the operation as "a powerful example of what is possible when international agencies and private industry work side by side." He added that the action "has led to the safeguarding of thousands of victims... stopped criminals in their tracks and helped save others from losing their funds." The operation demonstrates a proactive shift in law enforcement strategy, aiming to identify and protect at-risk victims and secure assets before they can be laundered further.
