Three men in the UK have been sentenced to prison for running a cryptocurrency fraud scheme that netted over £4 million by impersonating police officers and building fake law enforcement websites. The Metropolitan Police’s Cryptocurrency Team traced the funds using blockchain analysis after victims reported the scam in January 2025.

Anthony Ikenwe, 29, and Kevin Nwamma, 25, each received 6-year sentences for conspiracy to defraud alongside concurrent 5-year terms for money laundering. Hamza Bashir, 23, got 3 years and 9 months for conspiracy to defraud with a concurrent 3-year money laundering sentence.

The playbook: pretend to protect, then steal everything

The three men posed as police officers supposedly…