PANews reported on August 21st that North Wales Police reported that a victim lost approximately $2.8 million (approximately €2.1 million) in Bitcoin after being tricked into entering their wallet's recovery phrase through a social engineering attack. The scammer, posing as a senior British law enforcement official, falsely claimed the victim's identification information had been found on the suspect's phone and instructed them to "protect" their assets through a fake website. The victim entered their recovery phrase, and within minutes, their funds were stolen. Police reminded that law enforcement officers will not contact the public to discuss cryptocurrency holdings or request recovery phrases. Anyone receiving such calls should hang up immediately and call the non-emergency number 101 for verification.

Blockchain security company TRM Labs pointed out that in the first half of 2025, the leakage of private keys and mnemonics accounted for more than 80% of the theft of crypto assets. In addition, Europe is also facing a surge in physical attacks on crypto assets. France has reported at least 10 "wrench attacks", including attempted kidnappings and cryptocurrency ransom cases.