Scams

Former SafeMoon CEO Braden John Karony was sentenced to 8 years in prison in Brooklyn federal court after a jury conviction in May 2025 for his role in a multi-million dollar crypto fraud involving SafeMoon’s liquidity pools. He was ordered to forfeit about $7.5 million, with additional restitution to victims still to be set, while prosecutors say more than $9 million in cryptocurrency was misappropriated to fund luxury cars and real estate.

On February 14, 2026, researchers at iVerify reported a mobile spyware platform called ZeroDayRAT that can fully compromise Android and iOS devices. The tool is reportedly sold on Telegram and lets attackers control phones, capture GPS data, access notifications from banking and crypto apps, and intercept SMS one-time passwords. Victims are infected through links in smishing texts, phishing emails, fake app stores, and messaging apps.

In February 2026, a federal judge in the Eastern District of Virginia sentenced Praetorian Group International founder Ramil Ventura Palafox to 20 years for wire fraud and concealment money laundering linked to a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme. Prosecutors said the operation raised more than $201 million, took in at least 8,198 BTC, and drew over 90,000 investors, with confirmed losses of at least $62.7 million.

Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz stated on X that native XRP has no issuer and that the XRP Ledger's XLS-39 "clawback" does not apply to XRP itself. The remark followed a post from the Global Trade Finance (GTF) aggregator claiming its VC wallet was compromised by a "fake NFT offer" and "XRP Voucher Scam," affecting a major LP holder.

An address linked to the 2023 Mixin Network exploit resumed activity, moving 2,005 ETH to Tornado Cash on February 13, 2026, according to Lookonchain. Three new wallets then received 2,087 ETH and sold at around $1,933, while Ethereum traded near $1,971.30, implying sales below spot. CoinMarketCap later showed ETH at $1,970, down 1.3% in 24 hours.

French police arrested three suspects after an attempted break-in targeting a senior figure at Binance’s French unit. According to RTL, around 7:00 am CET Thursday, three armed, hooded individuals tried to enter an apartment in Val-de-Marne and were detained two hours later in Hauts-de-Seine; Binance confirmed a home invasion involving one employee but did not identify the person.

In Virginia, a federal court sentenced Praetorian Group International chief executive Ramil Ventura Palafox, 61, to 20 years in prison for operating a Bitcoin-based Ponzi scheme that raised over $200 million from investors between December 2019 and October 2021. Prosecutors said the operation took in more than 8,198 BTC and over $201 million in total, caused at least $62.7 million in losses, and falsely promised daily returns of up to 3%.

Crypto flows to suspected human trafficking networks climbed 85% during 2025, according to a Chainalysis report released Thursday. The firm said volumes reached hundreds of millions of dollars, with networks concentrated in Southeast Asia and closely linked to scam compounds, online casinos and Chinese-language laundering groups. It added that blockchain transparency could help investigators track patterns and intervene.

Israeli authorities detained a military reservist and a civilian after allegedly using classified information to bet on Polymarket about strikes on Iran. Prosecutors plan charges including security offenses, bribery, and obstruction, while reports indicate a June 2025 betting account earned over $152,300, though its link to the arrests remains unclear.

On February 12, South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service urged Bithumb customers to ignore URLs in compensation notices, saying every link is fraudulent because no payout schedule has been announced. The alert follows a transfer mistake that sent 620,000 Bitcoins to users; the exchange says it has recovered 99.7% and outlined fee waivers and 110% refunds.