Scams

Binance Research said data current as of May 13, 2026 shows more than US$75B in illicit crypto remains trapped on-chain, even though such activity stays below 1% of total transaction volume. The report argues tighter KYT/KYC checks, stablecoin freezes and seizures have narrowed exit routes, while mixer capacity is capped at about $10M per day, implying a multi-decade backlog if mixers were the only outlet.

Entain general counsel Simon Zinger sent letters dated May 15 to six Premier League clubs, asking them to commit to UK-licensed gambling shirt sponsors for the 2026/27 season. The letters raised concerns about Stake's "heavy reliance on cryptocurrency" and alleged BJ88 uses "unregulated payment methods like cryptocurrency" to avoid oversight, while noting several clubs' current sponsors lack UK Gambling Commission licensing.

Onchain investigator ZachXBT published an investigation alleging LAB, an AI trading terminal project, is dominated by insiders controlling more than 95% of its token supply. He said LAB pumped over 350% in under 72 hours to a $6 billion fully diluted valuation before dropping more than 65% within hours, alongside claims of multiple retail value-extraction paths. The report also cites large LAB movements tied to Bitget accounts and includes a $10,000 bounty seeking documents tied to market-making activity.

AARP told senators to retain Section 205 of the CLARITY Act ahead of the Senate Banking Committee's May 14 markup, arguing it would strengthen safeguards around cryptocurrency kiosks. The group pointed to more than 13,460 complaints and over $389 million in reported losses tied to kiosk-related fraud, while calling for federal registration that still leaves states room to set their own protections.

On May 14, 2026, Ripple co-founder and CTO David Schwartz warned that scams targeting XRPL users have "hugely" escalated, with attackers using fake airdrops, giveaways, and impersonation to steal XRP. He said connecting a non-custodial wallet to fraudulent sites can trigger wallet-drainer transactions, and urged users to treat posts promoting airdrops or giveaways as likely scams.

Ripple CTO Emeritus David Schwartz warned XRPL users on May 14, 2026 to stay highly alert as airdrop and giveaway scams intensify across platforms. He said Ripple does not run free-XRP promotions and cautioned that impersonators may try to lure victims into connecting wallets, visiting malicious sites, or sharing seed phrases.

On April 23, 2026, blockchain investigator ZachXBT said a Discord call in which Dritan Kapllani Jr. displayed an Exodus wallet helped link him to a broader social-engineering theft network exceeding $19 million. The investigator connected the shown Ethereum address to a March 14, 2026 Bitcoin theft of 185 BTC (about $13 million at the time) and alleged the wallet later received roughly $5.3 million, with nearly $1.6 million spent or laundered within six weeks.

PeckShield says the attacker behind the TrustedVolumes incident has begun laundering part of the approximately $6.7 million taken from the liquidity provider. The firm reports $278,000 has been laundered so far, including 10.2 ETH ($23,600) sent to TornadoCash and 110 ETH ($250,000) swapped via THORChain into BTC, after the May 7 exploit.

Elastic Security Labs identified TCLBANKER, a Brazilian banking trojan that monitors 59 bank, fintech, and crypto domains and triggers remote control when targets are visited. The malware spreads by taking over victims’ WhatsApp Web sessions and Outlook accounts to message their contacts with phishing lures and the trojanized installer.

Kris Sampson said a call that appeared to come from her adult daughter used an audio clip that sounded like her crying, followed by a man demanding money via PayPal, and her daughter was found safe about 15 to 20 minutes after the first call. Imposter scams were the most reported fraud complaint last year, with cases up about 19% to roughly 1 million in 2025 and losses topping $3.5 billion. Experts say voice-cloning can work from very short samples—sometimes as little as three seconds—making even familiar numbers and voices less reliable.