On July 18, blockchain security firm Chainalysis announced the results of Operation Spincaster, an initiative to combat "authorized phishing" scams that have resulted in $2.70 billion in cryptocurrency losses since May 2021. Chainalysis said Operation Spincaster is a global extension of the company's first operation with Calgary Police in Canada in March 2024. The operation involved a series of operations in six countries between April and June, involving 12 public sector institutions and 17 cryptocurrency exchanges. During these operations, Chainalysis identified more than 7,000 leads related to the crime. From this information, Chainalysis was able to track the flow of funds and use them to close accounts linked to crime, seize funds, and build intelligence to better prevent potential scams. In one of the operations, participants were able to get in touch directly with victims and warn them that they were under threat. Potential victims were able to revoke their authorizations and prevent the loss of cryptocurrencies worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. (Cointelegraph)