Operation Fake Coins (Argentina, May 2026)

Summary

"Fake Coins" (Operativo "Fake Coins") was a law-enforcement operation announced by the Buenos Aires Province Public Prosecutor's Office (MPBA) in which the Argentine Federal Police's Cybercrime Directorate carried out 90 simultaneous raids and arrested 24 people linked to three allegedly separate crypto-investment fraud rings. Prosecutors said the rings froze or seized more than 8 million USDT, around 60 million Argentine pesos in cash, and roughly 80 devices, estimating total victim losses at nearly 3 billion pesos across more than 100 complaints. One ring is alleged to have distributed a counterfeit trading app through the Google Play Store that mimicked a legitimate investment platform; a second allegedly hijacked WhatsApp accounts to impersonate contacts; a third, based in San Isidro and described by prosecutors as having participants of East Asian origin, allegedly distributed pirated apps bundled with infostealer malware.