Europol: 6 arrested in UK, Netherlands in Bitcoin scam

THE HAGUE, Netherlands – The European Union’s police agency says authorities in the Netherlands and Britain have arrested six people suspected of involvement in a cryptocurrency theft worth 24 million euros ($27 million).

Europol says five men and one woman were arrested in simultaneous raids Tuesday morning in the southwest of Britain and in the Dutch cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam.

The suspects were identified in a 14-month investigation into a scam known as “typosquatting” in which thieves recreated a well-known cryptocurrency exchange to gain access to clients’ Bitcoin wallets, enabling the thieves to steal their funds.

Europol says in a statement that the scam is believed to have hit at least 4,000 victims in 12 countries.