DOJ announced plans for the London scam operation 33 days before Coinbase's team joined it
Coinbase's investigators joined the DOJ's Scam Center Strike Force and the UK's NCA in a four-day London operation against West African scam networks. Coinbase's post did not include a freeze total for the week, so the case for routine cooperation rests on timing.
The Investor · Invest desk
Reported losses for American victims of online investment fraud rose from $4.57 billion in 2023 to $8.65 billion in 2025, up 89%, according to DOJ figures attributed to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center.
| Measure | Value | As of | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported losses, 2023 | $4.57 billion | 2023 | 12 |
| Reported losses, 2025 | $8.65 billion | 2025 | 12 |
What happened
- Coinbase said its investigators followed illicit financial activity, supported efforts to freeze assets tied to the scam networks and passed information to law enforcement in real time.
- The schemes in scope were fake crypto investments, criminals posing as police officers, and fake video-call arrests used to pressure victims into sending money.
- On Sep. 3 the DOJ announced a US-UK agreement on joint investigations into crypto investment fraud, signed with the Crown Prosecution Service and the NCA among others.
- Coinbase's statement also named African law enforcement partners among the participants and said investigative work remained ongoing.
Why it matters
- exposure Scam operators whose fake profiles, messaging accounts and websites sit with different companies are reachable in one investigation, because Coinbase said it matched blockchain transfers to that evidence.
- precedent The Sep. 3 agreement gives both governments a rule for choosing which jurisdiction prosecutes overlapping cases, so tracing work like Coinbase's can feed a prosecution in either country.
- contradiction Coinbase says networks moved into West Africa as authorities pursued them in Southeast Asia, so a freeze total in one region and continued losses in another can both be true.
The best evidence that exchange cooperation with law enforcement has become routine is a date, and the date comes from the DOJ. On Sep. 3 the department said it planned an October disruption event with private companies in London [15]. The operation began on Oct. 6 [1], 33 days later [17].
June supplies the second data point. Coinbase said then that it had frozen over $3 million in crypto tied to Southeast Asian scam networks and had shared intelligence with the DOJ, Meta, Microsoft, Starlink and international police agencies [14]. Coinbase Vice President Leah Bressack said: "When we disrupted scam compounds in Southeast Asia earlier this year, we proved that coordinated action across industry and law enforcement works." [6] Two operations in a year, the second on a published schedule, make a pattern, or rather a sample of two.
The freeze behind the word "proved" is $3 million [14]. The DOJ attributed its loss figures to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center: reported US losses from online investment fraud reached $8.65 billion in 2025, up 89% from $4.57 billion in 2023 [12], an increase of $4.08 billion [16]. The June freeze is about 0.035% of the 2025 figure [18]. The comparison is crude (the freeze concerned Southeast Asian networks, and the losses are US reports), and the DOJ cautioned that unreported cases could leave actual losses higher [13].
In our view the freezes cannot be the whole return on a team's week in London, and what remains is intelligence that police can act on. The counter-thesis is that nothing here is routine yet: the account of what Coinbase's investigators did comes from Coinbase's own post of Oct. 13 [3]. Our thesis fails if Coinbase turns out to be the only exchange named at these events, or if the series stops at two.
What to watch
- Whether Coinbase, the DOJ or the NCA publish freeze or arrest totals from the Oct. 6-9 week.
- The date and participant list of the next DOJ-NCA disruption event, and whether any exchange other than Coinbase is named.
- The next FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center loss figure for online investment fraud, to set against the $8.65 billion reported for 2025.
Clarity's read
What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.
Reality
- Evidence60
- Adoption
- Insufficient
- Hype gap+25
- Incentives60
- Confidence60
Perspective Coverage
4 publishers- Builder
- Builder 10%
- Operator
- Operator 51%
- Investor
- Investor 39%
Claim ledger
Ranked by verification strength, evidence, and original report placement.
- [1]
Coinbase joined a four-day operation with U.S. and UK law enforcement, held in London on Oct. 6-9, to disrupt West African scam networks and the services supporting them.
- [2]
The operation involved the DOJ's Scam Center Strike Force and the UK's National Crime Agency, which hosted it in partnership with the Strike Force, according to Coinbase's post.
- [3]
Coinbase said in an Oct. 13 post that its Global Intelligence team participated in Joint Disruption Week in London alongside Tech Against Scams, the NCA, the DOJ's Scam Center Strike Force and international law enforcement partners.
- [4]
Coinbase said its investigators followed illicit financial activity, supported efforts to freeze assets connected to scam networks and passed information to law enforcement in real time.
- [5]
Coinbase described an investigative process that connected blockchain transfers with evidence from fake profiles, messaging accounts and websites, and said combining financial records with information held by other services let teams identify connections between activities that might otherwise appear unrelated.
- [6]
"When we disrupted scam compounds in Southeast Asia earlier this year, we proved that coordinated action across industry and law enforcement works."
- [7]
Coinbase's statement identified African law enforcement partners among the participants and said investigative work remained ongoing.
- [8]
Coinbase said criminal networks were expanding into West Africa as authorities pursued their operations in Southeast Asia.
- [9]
The schemes targeted included fraudulent cryptocurrency investments, criminals pretending to be law enforcement officers, and fake video-call arrests used to pressure victims into sending money.
- [10]
The DOJ announced on Sep. 3 that American and British authorities had signed an agreement covering joint investigations into cryptocurrency investment fraud and other online scams, involving the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, the Crown Prosecution Service of England and Wales, and the NCA.
- [11]
Under the arrangement, the DOJ said investigators would exchange information about organized crime groups, pursue common targets and decide which jurisdiction should prosecute cases when investigations overlap.
- [12]
The DOJ's figures, attributed to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, showed reported losses for American victims of online investment fraud reaching $8.65 billion in 2025, up 89% from $4.57 billion in 2023.
- [13]
The DOJ cautioned that unreported cases could leave actual losses higher than the reported figures.
- [14]
In an earlier operation covered on June 4, Coinbase said it had frozen over $3 million in cryptocurrency connected to Southeast Asian scam networks, and reported sharing intelligence with the DOJ, Meta, Microsoft, Starlink and international police agencies.
- [15]
The DOJ announced plans for an October disruption event with private companies in London.
- [16]
Reported US online investment fraud losses rose by $4.08 billion between 2023 and 2025.
- [17]
The Oct. 6 start of the London operation came 33 days after the DOJ's Sep. 3 announcement.
- [18]
Coinbase's June freeze of over $3 million is about 0.035% of the $8.65 billion in reported 2025 US online investment fraud losses.
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Sources
4 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- crypto.newsCoinbase joins DOJ and UK crime agency to target West Africa scams
1 article · October 13, 2026
- cryptobriefing.comCoinbase joins law enforcement to combat West African scam networks
1 article · October 14, 2026
- cryptopolitan.comWest Africa scam crackdown removes 3.7M accounts, flags $11M in crypto
1 article · October 13, 2026
- pymnts.comTech Giants and Global Police Dismantle West African Scam Rings
1 article · October 13, 2026
Topics and entities
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Topics
- Investment fraudFollow
- Crypto scam enforcementFollow
- Public-private intelligence sharingFollow
Entities
- Leah BressackFollow
- National Crime AgencyFollow
- U.S. Department of JusticeFollow
- Tech Against ScamsFollow
- CoinbaseFollow
- Scam Center Strike ForceFollow