U.S. warns hot wallets unsafe
- The U.S. Secret Service said its April Operation Atlantic froze $12 million in stolen cryptocurrency and warned approval-phishing scams can empty internet-connected wallets. - Investigators linked more than 20,000 wallet addresses to victims in 30-plus countries and contacted 3,000 account holders after tracing transactions in real time. - The warning lands as crypto scam losses keep climbing, with Americans reporting more than $11 billion in 2025. (fbi.gov)
A hot wallet is a crypto wallet connected to the internet. The U.S. Secret Service is now pointing to that constant connection as the opening scammers use to drain funds. (secretservice.gov) In an April 9 release, the Secret Service said Operation Atlantic identified more than $45 million tied to cryptocurrency fraud and froze $12 million transferred out of victims’ wallets. The operation involved agencies in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada. (secretservice.gov) The scheme at the center of the warning is “approval phishing.” Victims click a fake pop-up or alert tied to a crypto investment, approve wallet access, and hand criminals control to move the assets. (secretservice.gov 1) (secretservice.gov 2) The Secret Service said investigators identified more than 20,000 wallet addresses linked to victims in more than 30 countries. They directly contacted more than 3,000 account holders and revoked unauthorized users’ access. (secretservice.gov 1) (secretservice.gov 2) Federal agencies are also stressing that crypto is not invisible. The Federal Bureau of Investigation says blockchain records are public and let law enforcement trace transactions in ways that are not possible in many other payment systems. (ic3.gov) That tracing has turned into larger seizures. In June 2025, the Justice Department said the Secret Service and Federal Bureau of Investigation used blockchain analysis to support a forfeiture case targeting more than $225.3 million tied to crypto confidence scams. (justice.gov) The broader backdrop is a surge in reported losses. The FBI said Americans filed 181,565 cryptocurrency-related complaints in 2025, totaling more than $11 billion, the highest losses among complaint categories in the bureau’s annual internet crime report. (fbi.gov) The FBI and Internet Crime Complaint Center have been warning for years that scammers impersonate crypto support teams, claim there is a wallet security problem, and persuade victims to grant access or move funds to a supposed safe wallet. (ic3.gov) The government’s message is narrower than “all crypto is unsafe.” The warning is about wallets that stay online, fake approval prompts, and the fact that once a transfer is signed and sent, the transaction cannot be reversed. (ic3.gov) (secretservice.gov) Operation Atlantic ended with more than 120 scam domains disrupted and another $33 million flagged for further investigation. The agencies involved are using the same public ledgers scammers rely on to follow the money back out. (secretservice.gov)
