2024 has been a tumultuous year for the cryptocurrency industry, with several high-profile crimes dominating the headlines. Benzinga looks back at some of the biggest crypto crime cases in 2024.

What Happened: Earlier this week, a major cryptocurrency heist targeting a Genesis creditor resulted in the theft of $243 million.

The crime, executed on Aug. 19, involved sophisticated phishing and social engineering tactics. Cybercriminals impersonated Google and Gemini support, tricking the victim into resetting 2FA and transferring funds to a compromised wallet.

The hackers also accessed private keys through AnyDesk, a remote desktop tool.

The stolen funds were distributed across multiple cryptocurrencies and exchanges to obscure the trail.

Two arrests have been made in connection with the crime, which involved key figures known as Greavys, Wiz and Box.

However, the heist is just one of many incidents that have rocked the crypto world in 2024.

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A crypto whale lost more than $70 million in a phishing scam earlier this year, marking one of the most significant losses in the space.

The funds were recovered through advanced tracking methods and this story serves as a reminder of the vulnerabilities even the wealthiest investors face in the crypto space.

In another massive fraud case, the SEC uncovered a $650 million crypto fraud scheme in August, bringing charges against multiple individuals involved.

The scale of the fraud exposed the ongoing risks within the crypto ecosystem.

July saw the SEC charge the founder of BitClout in a $257 million crypto fraud scheme, bringing further scrutiny to emerging projects in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

In one of the year’s more bizarre cases, the SEC filed a lawsuit involving a $400 million crypto transfer tied to a kidnapping in Dubai, leaving the community puzzled by the details of this high-stakes crime.

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) made headlines when it arrested individuals tied to a $1.2 billion illegal crypto business, underscoring the growing efforts to crack down on illegal activities in the space.

What’s Next: As crypto crime continues to rise in 2024, the numbers are staggering, with a report showed an 84% surge in crypto heists, with over $1.58 billion stolen so far this year.

These incidents will likely be a major topic of discussion at Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets event on Nov. 19.

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