241 scam sites taken offline, the recovery scam lives on: what to check now

The information provided in this article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry a high degree of risk. Always conduct your own research.The Brooklyn District Attorney and the FBI shut down a fraud network of 241 websites and 112 servers on 14 October 2026; the second stage of the scheme was a purported recovery service. Five days earlier, German regulator BaFin had warned about exactly this pattern at a purported bank.On 14 October 2026 the Brooklyn District Attorney's office and the FBI shut down a fraud network: 241 websites went offline and 112 servers were seized. What makes this case unusual is the second stage of the fraud rather than the first. The same operators called their victims again weeks after the loss – this time posing as a recovery service that would get the lost money back. The tactic is known as a recovery scam, and it carries on after the takedown. For investors in Germany this is not a distant American story. Five days before the Brooklyn announcement, on 9 October 2026, the German regulator BaFin issued a warning about a purported “Vantex Bank” and named the suspicion of recovery fraud exp...