Coinbase announced on Oct. 13 that it had taken part in a joint operation with U.S. and UK law enforcement targeting scam networks in West Africa, outlining its role in a blog post. The exchange said its Global Intelligence team traced illicit funds, supported the freezing of assets tied to the networks and shared intelligence with police in real time.

The four-day operation, known as Joint Disruption Week, ran in London from Oct. 6 to 9. It was hosted by the UK's National Crime Agency in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice's Scam Center Strike Force, bringing investigators together to disrupt the networks behind large-scale online fraud schemes. Other participants included the cross-industry Tech Against Scams coalition and international law enforcement agencies, and Coinbase said African law enforcement partners also joined.

How Coinbase Traced Scam Funds

According to the company, its Global Intelligence team followed illicit financial activity throughout the week, supporting efforts to freeze assets tied to scam networks and passing information to police in real time.

The team linked blockchain transfers with evidence drawn from fake profiles, messaging accounts and websites. Combining these records, investigators identified connections between activities that might otherwise have appeared unrelated.

The schemes targeted included fake cryptocurrency investments and criminals posing as police officers. In some cases, scammers staged fake arrests over video calls to pressure victims into sending money.

Coinbase said these groups follow a common pattern: they use social media to find potential victims, messaging apps to build trust, and financial services to move stolen funds.

Coinbase Vice President Leah Bressack said earlier collaboration in Southeast Asia had shown that “coordinated action across industry and law enforcement works.” She described the London effort as “sustained pressure.”

The company said criminal networks have been shifting into West Africa as authorities intensify operations against them in Southeast Asia.

U.S.-UK Agreement and Rising Fraud Losses

The London event followed a Sep. 3 announcement by the DOJ of an agreement between U.S. and UK authorities. The deal covers joint investigations into crypto investment fraud and other online scams.

Under the agreement, investigators will share information, pursue common targets and determine which country should prosecute overlapping cases.

The DOJ said reported U.S. losses from online investment fraud reached $8.65 billion in 2025, an increase of 89% from $4.57 billion in 2023 — a category that covers schemes like the fake cryptocurrency investments targeted during the London operation.

Earlier Actions Against Scam Networks

In June, Coinbase said it had frozen more than $3 million in cryptocurrency linked to Southeast Asian scam networks. In that same effort, Meta disabled more than 1.4 million accounts, pages and groups, while Microsoft suspended about 20,000 fraudulent accounts — a combination of exchange-level asset freezes and platform-level takedowns across major technology companies.

On Sep. 9, the DOJ said an operation against Xinbi Guarantee and its vendors had restrained over $52 million in crypto. Prosecutors said the vendors advertised money laundering services and fake investment websites for scam compounds.

The U.S. Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, has also flagged $12.7 billion in suspicious activity tied to digital asset investment scams. The agency said scam proceeds are usually converted into stablecoins, almost always USDT, the dollar-pegged stablecoin issued by Tether.

FinCEN noted that these totals do not directly measure victim losses, since some filings include attempted transfers or transactions reported by more than one institution.

Coinbase said investigative work from the London operation is still ongoing. The company said it will keep working with the Tech Against Scams coalition and law enforcement partners to target these networks wherever they operate next.

Source: Blockonomi