A joint enforcement effort involving authorities in the United Kingdom, United States, and Canada has frozen more than $12 million in suspected criminal proceeds tied to crypto fraud. The operation, known as Operation Atlantic, also identified more than 20,000 victims and more than $45 million in alleged losses linked to cryptocurrency scam activity.

A coordinated international enforcement operation targeting cryptocurrency fraud has resulted in the freezing of more than $12 million in suspected criminal proceeds, with Canadian authorities participating alongside counterparts in the United Kingdom and the United States.

The operation, known as Operation Atlantic, focused on phishing-based crypto scams and brought together the UK’s National Crime Agency, the U.S. Secret Service, the Ontario Provincial Police, and the Ontario Securities Commission. The cross-border effort was aimed at identifying victims, tracing stolen digital assets, and disrupting fraud networks operating across multiple jurisdictions.

According to authorities, the operation identified more than 20,000 victims across the UK, Canada, and the United States. Investigators also said they identified more than $45 million believed to have been stolen through cryptocurrency fraud schemes.

A central focus of the operation was so-called approval phishing. In these scams, victims are tricked into authorizing malicious transactions or wallet permissions that allow fraudsters to move digital assets without requiring a direct transfer initiated by the victim. Unlike more traditional scams, the victim may not realize what has happened until funds have already been drained from the wallet.

The Canadian role in the operation is significant. Ontario enforcement and regulatory agencies were among the authorities involved, underscoring the extent to which crypto fraud investigations increasingly rely on cross-border co-operation between police, regulators, and technical specialists. Because digital asset scams often move quickly across jurisdictions and platforms, freezing funds before they disappear can be critical to limiting losses.

The operation also relied on support from private-sector participants with expertise in blockchain tracing and scam intelligence. That kind of collaboration has become increasingly important in crypto-related investigations, where investigators often need both law-enforcement powers and technical analysis to identify compromised wallets, suspicious transactions, and ongoing fraud campaigns.

Authorities described Operation Atlantic as an example of how international co-operation can be used to respond more aggressively to evolving crypto scams. The results suggest that enforcement agencies are putting greater emphasis on early intervention, tracing suspicious activity in real time, and freezing proceeds before they can be moved beyond reach.

As crypto-related fraud continues to evolve, approval-phishing schemes remain one of the more serious threats facing wallet users. Operation Atlantic highlights both the scale of the problem and the growing willingness of enforcement bodies in Canada and abroad to work together to disrupt it.

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Originally published on Canadian Fraud News.