Breakthrough action of Polish police. Cryptolutes of frauds bid for PLN 64,000!

The Polish police conducted an unprecedented operation that could permanently change the rules on the fight against cybercrime in the country. Officers of the Central Bureau for Combating Cybercrime (CBZC), in cooperation with the D.A. and the IRS, organized the first always cryptocurrency bid secured from an organized crime group. Virtual assets, purchased with money from fraud, were sold for over PLN 64,000. The full amount will be utilized to compensate the victims.

This is simply a historical minute that shows the increasing competence of Polish services in dealing with fresh technologies utilized by criminals. The action is the culmination of an investigation conducted for months, which led to the demolition of a large gang specialising in extortion, including popular BLIC code fraud. The decision to cash in digital property is not only a way to recover money, but besides a powerful signal to the criminal world: even virtual assets no longer warrant impunity.

Breaking up a gang and securing assets. That's what cheaters did.

It all started in October 2024, erstwhile CBZC police reported a spectacular breakdown of a large organized crime group. As part of an extended action, a full of 26 people were detained, with as many as 224 criminal charges. These included moving an organized crime group, money laundering and many frauds, for which any of the suspects are facing up to 10 years imprisonment.

Criminals acted in an highly perfidious and painful way for victims. Their specialty was BLIC fraud, fraud on payment gates and sociotechnical methods in which they impersonated household members or acquaintances, requesting urgent financial support. The losses are estimated at millions of zlotys, and the victims were people all over Poland.

During detention, officers secured key infrastructure. These were servers, dozens of computers, mobile phones, and data carriers containing terabytes of information. But the most crucial discovery proved to be Cryptocurrency portfolios. Investigators had no uncertainty that virtual currencies were purchased for money straight from criminal activity. They have become the mark of an innovative operation.

The first specified bidding in Poland. What did it look like in practice?

Security of cryptocurrency alone is 1 thing, but cashing them in accordance with Polish law is simply a completely different challenge. The procedures to date have not been full adapted to manage specified assets. However, thanks to the determination and cooperation of respective institutions, a precedent has been created.

Police officers from the Białystok department and the territory Attorney's Office in Łomża played a key role. They, as part of their investigation, decided to convert the secured cryptocurrency into the Polish currency. The aim was to let the victims to be reimbursed in real terms. To this end, cooperation was established with the taxation Office in Łomża, where an authoritative public bidding was organised.

According to the CBZC, the full process was carried out ‘professionally and in accordance with applicable provisions’. To guarantee full safety and transparency, cryptocurrency was first transferred from a secured criminal wallet to a specially created prosecutor's wallet. Only from this state address were digital assets transferred to the auction winners. This shows that Polish law enforcement authorities can not only prosecute cyber criminals, but besides manage their digital assets efficiently.

Tether, BNB and Polygon under the hammer. The money will return to the victims

Although the police did not uncover the exact amount of auctioned units, it is known precisely what cryptocurrency came into the auction. Criminals have invested in:

• Tether (USDT) – popular tablecoin, whose value is linked to the US dollar.
• BNB – cryptocurrency linked to the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance.
• Polygon (MATIC) – token related to the platform facilitating the scaling of the Ethereum network.

In the end, as a consequence of the bid in the Łomżyńsk IRS, the amount was obtained exceeding PLN 64,000. Although it is hard to measure whether this is the amount corresponding to the full marketplace value of assets at the time of their acquisition by criminals, that is not the most crucial thing in this case. The biggest success is the operation itself and the fact that the recovered funds will shortly scope those who have been cheated.

The CBZC's authoritative communication states: "As a consequence of further procedural actions in the investigation to enable the recovery of the victims' money, there is simply a request to convert secured cryptocurrency into Polish currency". This seemingly simple information covers an tremendous amount of analytical and legal work, which opens a completely fresh chapter in the Polish judiciary.

What does this action mean for the future? A fresh tool in the fight against cyber crime

The success of the bidding in Łomża is much more than a one-time recovery of PLN 64,000. This is, above all, the creation of a working and verified pattern in practice. From now on prosecutors and police officers across Poland have a ready-made pattern of how to legally and effectively convert secured virtual assets into cash that can be returned to victims or powered by the Treasury.

It is simply a powerful blow to the sense of impunity of cyber criminals who have frequently treated cryptocurrency as a safe haven for illegally acquired funds. CBZC action proves that no assets, even the most decentralised ones, are outside the scope of law enforcement. The competence of Polish services in the field of blockchain analytics and digital forensics is clearly increasing.

For thousands of Poles who are exposed to net fraud all day, this is simply a ray of hope. It shows that the fight against this crime is becoming more effective and that the chances of recovering stolen money, although inactive difficult, are becoming more real. Polish police, prosecutors and IRS have proven that they can act side by side, adapting to the dynamically changing planet of crime.