Case Study: Police of the Czech Republic exposes crypto-enabled CSAM scam with TRM Labs

Police of the Czech Republic exposes crypto-enabled CSAM scam with TRM Labs, flagging hundreds of users

The Police of the Czech Republic's National Organized Crime Agency (NCOZ) faced the challenge of dismantling a network of fraudulent dark web portals that scammed users by offering child sexual abuse material (CSAM) for crypto payments but never delivering content. The criminals exploited the anonymity of cryptocurrency and the illicit nature of the transactions to avoid being reported. The agency turned to TRM Labs, utilizing their TRM Forensics product to trace the illicit financial flows.

TRM Labs provided the blockchain intelligence necessary to trace cryptocurrency payments from the scam portals to real-world cash-out points, such as Bitcoin ATMs in Prague. This collaboration led to the identification and arrest of the primary suspect in the Czech Republic, the identification of a second suspect abroad, and the seizure of servers run from their homes. Furthermore, the investigation enabled the Police of the Czech Republic to flag hundreds of the portals' customers to Europol. The work with TRM Labs successfully linked digital transactions to physical identities, resulting in a major disruption of a CSAM network.

Police of the Czech Republic