Overview

• Officers arrested five men, aged 21 to 37, at London addresses on 1 October on suspicion of conspiracy to commit fraud, and all have been bailed pending further enquiries.
• The investigation focuses on pre-sale token websites that promised returns on future exchange listings despite no genuine intention to list the tokens.
• Police cited a suspected London-based boiler room that made follow-up calls to pressure victims to invest further, using professional-looking sites and fake endorsements.
• The Met says losses run into the millions and may affect thousands of victims in the UK and beyond, with potential global reach still being assessed.
• Investigators named DTX Exchange, Intel Markets, Cryptids, Algo Tech Trades and Unilabs Finance, and advised checks against the FCA warning list and reporting to Action Fraud.