Chainalysis collaborates with Canadian law enforcement to uncover $25 million in 1,100 crypto scams

Chainalysis and Canadian law enforcement teamed up in an operation called “Operation Spincaster.” The joint effort between the on-chain analytics platform and law enforcement aimed to combat cryptocurrency scams. Chainalysis claims the program has been successful after it led them to uncover an estimated $25 million in losses and over 1,100 victims of fraud.

Operation Spincaster was first launched in 2024 to deal with the rising threat of cryptocurrency scams. At the time, the most pressing issue was approval phishing — a tactic used to deceive users into authorizing malicious blockchain transactions granting the scammers access to the victim’s funds. 

The estimated losses from approval phishing ranged from $1 billion to $2.7 billion between May 2021 and mid-2024. This alarming trend necessitated the need for Operation Spincaster. The operation was conducted across six countries, one of which was Canada, and led to the recovery of an estimated $162 million in losses. 

This year, Chainalysis teamed up with law enforcement in Delta, Canada, and has once more achieved great success. 

Chainalysis teams up with law enforcement in Delta

The joint collaboration of the blockchain analytics firm, Chainalysis and Canadian law enforcement outfits put about 240 crypto addresses under the microscope. This led the team to uncover an estimated $25 million in losses and over a thousand victims. A significant number of these victims were Canadians.

Nearly 100 leads were shared, which led to investigations of scams involving approval phishing. 

The operation brought together seven different law enforcement agencies and two cryptocurrency exchanges, including Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Victoria Police, the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC), the British Columbia Financial Services Authority (BCFSA), the British Columbia Prosecution Service, the Vancouver Police Department, Shakepay, and others. 

Chainalysis training results 

Chainalysis provided hands-on training to the LEAs during the collaboration. The participating agents were then able to apply the new techniques they had learned to a previous investigation. 

The newly trained agents identified new stolen cryptocurrency funds in a blacklisted address containing $1.2 million. The account was already in the process of being seized by an overseas LEA. 

The cybercrime unit at Delta police department also identified an additional 70 transactions with a total value of $800K sent from Canadian exchanges. Those exchanges are currently in the process of notifying the victims and retrieving the funds so they can be returned. 

Chainalysis maintains its commitment to advancing blockchain intelligence and continued cooperation with law enforcement agencies to protect users. The early success of Operation Spincaster could make fighting cybercrime and fraud less challenging for law enforcement and equip them to reduce the number of future victims.