U.S. Secret Service Freezes $12 Million in Crypto Tied to Global Fraud in Operation Atlantic

Operation Atlantic, a one-week joint investigative sprint led by the U.S. Secret Service, U.K. National Crime Agency, and Canadian authorities at the NCA's London headquarters, froze $12 million in cryptocurrency and traced $45 million in total funds tied to approval phishing fraud schemes. The operation identified more than 20,000 victims and disrupted over 120 fraudulent web domains used by scammers who deployed fake pop-up notifications to trick victims into granting access to their crypto wallets. Major cryptocurrency exchanges including Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken participated alongside blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis and stablecoin issuer Tether. The operation comes amid escalating crypto fraud, with the FBI reporting $11.4 billion lost to cryptocurrency scams in 2025 alone and a separate $285 million North Korean hack of Solana protocol Drift occurring just over a week before Operation Atlantic's announcement.

Operation Atlantic: Multi-Agency Coordination and Results

• ▪Operation Atlantic included participation from Chainalysis, Kraken, and Tether as partner organizations
• ▪Operation Atlantic disrupted multiple fraud networks during the investigative sprint
• ▪Operation Atlantic resulted in $45 million in total traced funds believed to be related to cryptocurrency fraud
• ▪Operation Atlantic was conducted over a one-week period of focused work
• ▪Operation Atlantic involved participation from Coinbase, Binance, the United States Secret Service, and the U.K.'s National Crime Agency
• ▪Operation Atlantic was an investigative sprint hosted by the U.K.'s National Crime Agency at its headquarters in London
• ▪Operation Atlantic resulted in $12 million in frozen cryptocurrency funds

Approval Phishing Fraud Schemes and Victim Impact

• ▪Operation Atlantic safeguarded thousands of victims in the U.K. and overseas from approval phishing fraud
• ▪Operation Atlantic identified more than 20,000 victims of approval phishing fraud
• ▪The United States Secret Service identified more than 120 web domains used for approval phishing schemes during Operation Atlantic

Broader Context of Cryptocurrency Crime and Losses

• ▪The FBI reported that more than $11.4 billion was lost to cryptocurrency scams in 2025 alone
• ▪Alleged North Korean hackers exploited Solana protocol Drift for approximately $285 million just over a week before Operation Atlantic was announced

Perspective of United States Secret Service

• ▪The United States Secret Service views Operation Atlantic as safeguarding thousands of victims in the U.K. and overseas
• ▪The United States Secret Service emphasizes the identification of more than 120 web domains as a key achievement of Operation Atlantic

Perspective of Cryptocurrency exchanges (Coinbase, Binance, Kraken)

• ▪Cryptocurrency exchanges participating in Operation Atlantic demonstrate their commitment to working with law enforcement against fraud

Perspective of Approval phishing victims

• ▪Approval phishing victims in Operation Atlantic are part of the broader $11.4 billion lost to cryptocurrency scams in 2025
• ▪More than 20,000 approval phishing victims were deceived by fake pop-up notifications they believed came from trusted parties