Police dismantles 9 crypto scam centers, arrests 276 suspects
A joint international operation involving U.S. and Chinese authorities arrested at least 276 suspects and shut down nine cryptocurrency investment fraud centers. [...]

A joint international operation involving U.S. and Chinese authorities arrested at least 276 suspects and shut down nine cryptocurrency investment fraud centers.
The crackdown was led by Dubai Police under the UAE Ministry of Interior and targeted crime networks running so-called pig-butchering schemes (also known as romance baiting), a form of fraud in which scammers build trust with their targets through fabricated friendships or romances before luring them to fake cryptocurrency investment platforms that drain their funds.
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