The Police department of Manchester, UK has announced that their specialist officers recovered $22.2 million in crypto after finding and taking down a scam operation, where a 23-year-old male and a 25-year-old female were arrested for fraud and money laundering offences.

90% of the assets that were stolen are now recovered...

Once the scammers location was tracked down, detectives went to make the arrests and discovered USB sticks containing "large quantities" of Ethereum, along with additional crypto found in a wallet the criminals were using to earn interest on their stolen coins.

Authorities say those stolen coins came from users all over - United Kingdom, Europe, China, Australia, Hong Kong, and the United States. 

So far, 23 victims have received compensation after authorities verified their claims, while another 127 possible claims are being investigated.

Detectives suspect there are more victims out there who are owed money...

While they did not disclose the exact scam name, they described it as a "fake savings and trading service that ended up being a rug pull" and that it operated on Binance Smart Chain.

They want to return as much as possible to the victims but millions still remain unclaimed. Anyone who has been a victim of similar sounding fraud should contact OpGabbro@gmp.police.uk

Those who lost funds in scam that fits this description and are interested in potentially recouping their losses will be required to provide the name of the service they invested in, as well as wallet addresses and proof of ownership.

"With that comes a new type of crime and we're seeing a rise in opportunist criminals looking to exploit these trends as well as any gaps in the technology that can be manipulated. It's vital that we as a force adapt to what is an emerging type of crime, and demonstrate that there will be repercussions, regardless of the platform this fraudulent activity takes place on." said Detective Chief Inspector Joe Harrop of Greater Manchester Police's Economic Crime Unit.

When it comes to crypto crime, law enforcement is becoming more sophisticated...

Specialized officers who are familiar with digital assets are being trained in police forces around the world, and blockchain intelligence organizations are assisting detectives in following the paper trail.

This is one of several recent wins in the headlines...

The US Justice Department recovered Bitcoin worth $3.6 billion stolen from Bitfinex in 2016 earlier this month, in its largest financial seizure on record.

Such high-profile successes are ultimately a positive for Bitcoin, strengthening institutional investor trust and possibly making criminals reconsider.

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Author: Mark Pippen
London News Desk 
Breaking Crypto News