// #financial-crime
5 articles
Europol Dismantles AudiA6 Cryptocurrency Laundering Service That Processed €336M+ for Ransomware Gangs
Europol, in coordination with German BKA, Dutch FIOD, and Lithuanian law enforcement, has dismantled AudiA6 — a professional cryptocurrency money laundering service that processed more than €336 million in criminal proceeds for ransomware groups including Conti, REvil, and BlackCat/ALPHV. Seven individuals have been arrested across three countries and the service's infrastructure seized.
Fortinet 2026 Global Threat Landscape: Ransomware Victims Up 389% Year-over-Year, AI Crime Industrialising
Fortinet's 2026 Global Threat Landscape Report documents 7,831 confirmed ransomware victims in 2025 — a 389% increase over 2024's approximately 1,600 — alongside the first systematic evidence of AI-enabled cybercrime tooling (WormGPT, FraudGPT, BruteForceAI) being used at scale. Manufacturing, business services, and retail are the hardest-hit sectors. The report reframes the threat environment as fundamentally changed, not merely intensified.
Europol Dismantles €50M Crypto Investment Fraud Network — 12 Arrested Across Six Countries
Europol has coordinated the dismantling of a €50 million cryptocurrency investment fraud network operating across six European countries, resulting in 12 arrests, 30 property searches, and the seizure of cryptocurrency holdings, luxury assets, and fraud operation infrastructure. The network ran AI-enhanced investment scam call centres and operated fraudulent crypto trading platforms that fabricated returns to sustain victim investment before executing exit scams.
Sanctioned Russian Crypto Exchange Grinex Shut Down After $13.74M Hack — Blames Western Intelligence
Grinex, a cryptocurrency exchange linked to the sanctioned Garantex operation, suspended all services after attackers drained $13.74 million in a targeted April 15 incident. The exchange blamed 'hostile state intelligence agencies,' pointing to the attack's technical sophistication. Elliptic and Chainalysis analysts have traced the funds but stop short of confirming attribution. The shutdown removes a significant node in Russia's sanctions-evasion infrastructure.
North Korea's UNC4736 Spent Six Months Infiltrating Drift Protocol Before Stealing $285 Million
North Korean state hackers (UNC4736/AppleJeus) executed a meticulously planned six-month social engineering operation against Drift Protocol, culminating in a $285 million theft from the Solana DeFi platform on 1 April 2026. The attack leveraged fabricated tokens and pre-signed transactions to hand attackers admin control — the largest DeFi exploit of 2026 and the second-largest in Solana's history.