- British police are searching for victims of a Binance Chain Scam having recovered $22.25 million in stolen ETH
- The unnamed scam has led to two arrests and the recovery of the ETH from an encrypted USB and an online crypto safe
- Police say that the victims were located right across the world
British police are seeking the rightful owners of $22.25 million in ETH recovered in a series of busts last week. The ETH, seized by specialist officers from Greater Manchester Police’s Economic Crime Unit, is the result of a Binance Smart Chain scam that had victims spread across the world and has resulted in the arrest of a man and a woman in the city. Police are now seeking the owners of the ETH, with one, a cryptocurrency professional, already identified and refunded.
Scammers Took Life Savings
The unnamed Binance Smart Chain scam took in victims in the UK, United States, Europe, China, Australia, and Hong Kong, with millions of dollars’ worth of ETH deposited into what the victims thought was an online savings and trading service. As is a sadly familiar tale, the police reported that some victims invested their life savings into the scam.
When the scammers had had their fill, they shut down the service and transferred the funds to their own wallets. However, rather than disappearing over the sunset without a trace, they seem to have let slip to someone that they were staying for a brief time in Manchester, England.
Police Seeking to Reimburse Victims
Greater Manchester Police’s Economic Crime Unit took charge of the case and tracked the scammers down, arresting them and recovering an encrypted USB stick containing $9.5 million of the stolen ETH. Police found a further $12.7million a few days later after gaining access to a Cryptograph safety deposit box, which is effectively an online safe.
Victims have already started to come forward, with one, a cryptocurrency professional and seasoned trader, receiving 90% of his deposit back. The police are now seeking other victims to come forward, although they must have filed a police report and have evidence of their deposit.
