Case spain-coinblack-deepfake-cryptoDeepfake fraudSpain
Spain's Operation COINBLACK: six held over 19M euro AI deepfake celebrity crypto scam
Spanish National Police arrested six people in Granada and Alicante who used AI ads with deepfake celebrity endorsements to sell fake crypto investments, defrauding 208 victims of about 19 million euros ($20.9M).
HighAttack using AIStatus: Under investigationVerified case file
Open in the interactive mapCite this case
- Reported
- Apr 7, 2025
- Location
- Spain
- Target
- 208 investors worldwide
- Severity
- High
- Triggered by
- Spain-based investment fraud group led by a man using over 50 aliases
- Actor type
- Criminal
- Reported loss
- $20.9M
- CVE
- None
What happened
Spanish National Police arrested six people in Granada and Alicante who used AI ads with deepfake celebrity endorsements to sell fake crypto investments, defrauding 208 victims of about 19 million euros ($20.9M).
Impact: About 19 million euros lost by 208 victims across multiple countries; some victims defrauded twice through fake recovery services
Who triggered it
Actor: Spain-based investment fraud group led by a man using over 50 aliases
Attribution: Policia Nacional operation COINBLACK-WENDMINE with the Civil Guard; six arrests aged 34 to 57
Motive: Financial gain through multi-stage investment, romance and recovery fraud
How it happened
Attack vector: Algorithmic victim targeting, deepfake celebrity ads, fake trading platforms, then recovery scams by impersonating Europol agents and UK lawyers
Root cause: Generative AI made fake endorsements credible at scale; shell companies laundered proceeds for two years before a victim complaint triggered the probe
Timeline
- Investigation opens after a Granada victim files a complaint
- Six arrests; 100,000 euros, devices, firearms and documents seized
- OCCRP and BleepingComputer report police findings
Response
Arrests, seizures and charges for fraud and money laundering; police warned about AI-generated investment ads
Current status: Under investigation
Sources (open in a new tab)
- BleepingComputer bleepingcomputer.com
- OCCRP occrp.org
- AI Incident Database incidentdatabase.ai
Cite this case
Spain's Operation COINBLACK: six held over 19M euro AI deepfake celebrity crypto scam. AI Threat Watch, case spain-coinblack-deepfake-crypto, Apr 7, 2025. https://aithreat.io/cases/spain-coinblack-deepfake-crypto/
Permanent link: https://aithreat.io/cases/spain-coinblack-deepfake-crypto/