UK Crypto Scam Ring Stole £5M With Fake Police Calls, Snapchat

A fraud ring that stole roughly £5 million in cryptocurrency from UK victims used fake police calls and Snapchat messages to pressure targets into handing over account credentials, prosecutors said.

Three men – Anthony Ikenwe, 22, Hamza Bashir, 22, and Kevin Nwamma, 24 – received a combined 28 years and nine months in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to defraud. The sentences were handed down at Southwark Crown Court.

The group bought personal data from dark-web sources, then contacted victims by phone, prosecutors said. Callers claimed to be police officers or cryptocurrency exchange staff, warning that the victim's digital assets were under immediate threat. Victims were told to transfer crypto to wallets controlled by the ring or to share login details.