Financial Crime Research Archives - EFRI identifies financial crime enablers to curb cyberfraud

Warning: Fake “EFRI Restitution Department” Emails Claim Seized Crypto Assets and Request ID Documents

Warning: Fake “EFRI Restitution Department” Emails Claim Seized Crypto Assets and Request ID Documents Fraudsters are again impersonating EFRI. German-language emails are circulating from [email protected], signed “Elfriede Sixt, Principal – Restitution & Case Management”. They are fake. The domain does not belong to EFRI, and EFRI has no “Restitution Department”.

17 September 2026 No Comments

Seven Years of Work, 63 Victims, €1.48 Million Recovered: The P2P Case Finally Delivers

Seven Years of Work, 63 Victims, €1.48 Million in P2P Refunds Approved After years of victim identification, payment reconstruction and persistent follow-up, the P2P GmbH case is finally producing a concrete result for victims. The Cologne Regional Court has approved refunds totalling €1,479,152.91 for 63 victims coordinated through EFRI. The

16 September 2026 No Comments

ING Has a Payvision Accounting Problem

ING has a Payvision Accounting Problem Contradictory figures, missing audit evidence and unresolved victim claims demand documented answers. ING announced Payvision’s phase-out in 2021, citing commercial reasons, and reported its operational completion in 2022. Years later, the Payvision companies’ latest accounts – just filed with KvK – contain material contradictions

14 September 2026 No Comments

The “Just the Rails” Defence: What the Zelle Fraud Case Means for Wero and Europe

The “Just the Rails” Defence: What the Zelle Fraud Case Means for Wero and Europe On 20 July 2026, the Supreme Court of the State of New York, New York County refused to dismiss the New York Attorney General’s fraud action against Early Warning Services, LLC (EWS), the operator of

10 September 2026 No Comments

EFRI asks German prosecutors: What happened to the “Wolf of Sofia” investigations?

EFRI asks German prosecutors: What happened to the “Wolf of Sofia” investigations? Today EFRI has formally asked the Generalstaatsanwaltschaft Bamberg and its Central Cybercrime Unit (ZCB) for clarification on the status of the German criminal proceedings concerning Gal Barak, Marina Barak and Gery Shalon. The request comes against the background

8 September 2026 No Comments

Banking Circle, Kraken and the Victim-Named Virtual IBAN

Banking Circle, Kraken and the False Comfort of a Name Match In a recent Austrian victim case, three transfers totalling €60,749 went to Banking Circle IBANs displayed inside Kraken as fiat funding details. The payer saw his own name as beneficiary and received a positive Verification of Payee result. The

8 September 2026 No Comments

StablR discloses scale of unbacked tokens one day after EFRI renewed its MFSA request

StablR confirms more than 20 million unbacked token units remain in circulation StablR has for the first time quantified the unauthorised EURR and USDR tokens still in circulation. According to the issuer, 6.41 million EURR and 14.33 million USDR of unauthorised tokens remain in circulation without corresponding reserve assets. The

28 August 2026 No Comments

A Duty Without a Remedy: Austria Is About to Import Germany’s Payment-Blocking Model — Including the Part That Does Not Work

Austria Builds a Stronger Payment-Blocking Regime — but Repeats Germany’s Blind Spot Government Bill 594 d.B., XXVIII. GP (amendments to the Glücksspielgesetz and the Telekommunikationsgesetz 2021); introduced in the Nationalrat on 5 August 2026. The new § 56e GSpG enters into force at the end of 31 December 2026. EFRI

26 August 2026 No Comments

StablR: EFRI asks MFSA what became of its 2025 “exhaustive analysis”

StablR: EFRI asks MFSA what became of its 2025 ‘exhaustive analysis’ One year after the Malta Financial Services Authority told EFRI that it was conducting an “exhaustive analysis” of concerns surrounding StablR Ltd, EFRI has returned to the regulator. Two significant developments make renewed scrutiny necessary: the May 2026 StablR

24 August 2026 No Comments

Banking Circle 2025: The Payment Bank whose largest Fee line is not payments

Banking Circle 2025: The Payments Bank Whose Largest Fee Line Is Not Payments An EFRI financial-structure analysis based on Banking Circle S.A.’s audited financial statements for 2022–2025, its regulatory disclosures and its own product descriptions. It makes no finding of criminal or regulatory misconduct. Where the accounts do not permit

18 August 2026 No Comments