Europol, DOJ Seize $3.5M in Crypto in SocksEscort Proxy Takedown
Law enforcement authorities announced a coordinated takedown of SocksEscort on March 12, 2026, seizing roughly $3.5 million in cryptocurrency linked to the service. Investigators say the proxy network had compromised thousands of home and small-business routers, routing traffic to facilitate a range of illicit activity, including phishing campaigns and the takeover of cryptocurrency accounts.
The operation underscores growing international emphasis on disrupting the underlying infrastructure used for digital fraud rather than chasing individual transactions. Europol and the U.S. DOJ framed the action as both a criminal enforcement and prevention measure; prosecutors may now pursue operators and buyers of the network. The case highlights persistent risks to everyday network devices and the broader crypto ecosystem’s exposure to infrastructure-level attacks.