Blockchain
Blockchain.com impostors caught and jailed over £5 million crypto scam
Authorities in the United Kingdom have arrested two men for stealing cryptocurrencies worth £5.7 million (about $7.125 million) from victims around the world.
According to a recent relationshipJames Heppel, 42, of Staverton in Wiltshire, and Jake Lee, 38, of Charlcombe in Bath, have been charged with three counts of conspiracy to commit fraud.
The accused defrauded cryptocurrency investors by using a replica of the cryptocurrency exchange Blockchain.com. When users accessed the fake website, the scammers stole their crypto funds using their login details.
Using this deceptive tactic, the pair managed to prey on 55 victims across 26 countries, including 11 in the UK, as identified by the South West Regional Organized Crime Unit (SWROCU).
The investigation initially began when Lee was arrested by Avon and Somerset Police on suspicion of money laundering. Three Bitcoins wallet recovery seedsthree digital devices and £24,000 in cash were recovered from the offender upon his arrest.
Around the same time, SWROCU had also begun investing in a crypto scam which robbed a Wiltshire resident of £11,000 worth of Bitcoin stolen from his crypto wallet.
According to Det Supt Matt Brain, the scam was linked to Lee and his associate when the three electronic devices recovered from him were analysed. What these devices were was not revealed.
Both Lee and Heppel pleaded guilty to the charges. Lee is currently facing 4 years in prison and Heppel was sentenced to 15 months. A £1 million confiscation order was also made against Lee.
“This was a complex and time-consuming prosecution, involving investigations with numerous victims and prosecuting authorities around the world,” said Pamela Jain, a prosecutor in the Crown’s International Serious Economic Organized Crime Directorate Prosecution Service.
So far, £64,000 in cryptocurrency, £835,000 in cash, three cars and a print of artist Banksy’s painting ‘Bomb Love’, worth £60,000, have been recovered.
Cryptocurrency scams have seen a notable increase in the UK. In January 2024, the British police issued a warning against Coscoin, an AI-based quantitative trading platform suspected of running a Ponzi.
According to a March report from TRM Labs, UK residents have lost an average of £15,000 to cryptocurrency scams since October 2022. These included a variety of schemes such as investment fraud, phishing scams and scams. pig slaughter scams.