GMP find USB sticks worth millions of pounds as they smash crypto currency scam

A world-wide crypto currency scam which saw millions of pounds taken from victims across the globe has been smashed by Greater Manchester Police.

Two people have been arrested and so far £4m has been returned to rightful owners after the force identified a Manchester link to the fraud.

Some of the victims had invested their life savings in a fake savings and trading service.

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Officers from GMP's Economic Crime Unit seized $22.25m (just over £16m) after intelligence led to the discovery of USB sticks containing vast amounts of Ethereum, the second biggest crypto-currency after Bitcoin.

Cops had a tip off that those running the scheme had been in Manchester for a limited time and tracked them down, recovering an encrypted USB stick containing $9.5 million of stolen Ethereum.

Officers found a further $12.7million a few days later after locating a Cryptograph safety deposit box, effectively an online safe, and the code to access it.

In a statement GMP said: "A 23-year-old male and a 25-year-old female were arrested for fraud and money laundering offences. They have since been released under investigation pending further enquiries."

After the recovery in July last year, 150 victims contacted the officers. More than £4m has been returned to 23 of them. The other 127 claims are being investigated, with help from police forces around the world.

Victims based in the UK, United States, Europe, China, Australia and Hong Kong had deposited money, including life savings, into what they thought was an online savings and trading service using Binance Smart Chain, which stores and records transactions made in crypto-currency confirming their