Over £4 million has been returned to rightful owners following an international cryptocurrency scam that was rumbled by Greater Manchester Police.
It’s come after a sum of $22.25 million (which is equivalent to just over £16 million) was seized by specialist officers from Greater Manchester Police’s Economic Crime Unit in July 2021, when intelligence led to the discovery of USB sticks containing huge amounts of Ethereum – the second largest Crypto-currency after BitCoin.
A total of 150 victims from all over the world contacted officers in the unit following the scam-bust, which GMP says saw millions invested in a fake savings and trading service.
Over £4 million has now been returned to 23 verified victims, and another 127 reported claims are currently being investigated by officers alongside partners in international law enforcement across the globe.
Victims based in the UK, United States, Europe, China, Australia and Hong Kong had deposited money, including life savings, into what they thought was an online savings and trading service using Binance Smart Chain – which stores and records transactions made in crypto-currency confirming their movement and value.
The scammers operating the service waited until a significant amount of money had been deposited, before shutting down their website and transferring the funds into their own accounts.
Unfortunately for them, the scammers did not disappear without trace.
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Specialist officers received intelligence that those running the scheme had been in Manchester for a limited time and tracked them down, and
Officers first recovered an encrypted USB stick containing $9.5 million of stolen Ethereum, and they found a further $12.7million a few days later after locating a Cryptograph safety deposit box – which is effectively an online safe – and the code to access it.
A 23-year-old male and a 25-year-old female were arrested for fraud and money laundering offences, but they have since been released under investigation pending further enquiries.
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It’s not over yet either, as another £7 million still needs to be claimed by rightful owners.
$22.25 million was seized by specialist officers from Greater Manchester Police’s Economic Crime Unit in July 2021 / Credit: GMP
Speaking on the return of the funds, and issuing a warning on cryptocurreny services, Detective Chief Inspector Joe Harrop – from GMP’s Economic and Cyber Crime Unit – said: “Anyone involved in these cryptocurrency and trading services are urged to take extreme caution and do a lot of research as there are still huge risks.
“Online currency and trading is incredibly technical and need in-depth knowledge in order to make sure your money is safe.
“If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
“Thankfully, we’ve returned over four million pounds to 23 individual victims and we’re continuing to work through a large number of other reported claims where we can hopefully return even more money [but] we believe there may still be victims out there from all over the world who are owed some of this money we rumbled half a year ago.”
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Anyone who thinks they may be affected by this particular scam should get in touch with GMP on [email protected] with the following details:
The name of the savings and trading service invested in
The name of the law enforcement you reported the crime to, and officer details
Wallet addresses and documentation to prove ownership
Microdot exhibit for BRITs 2026: the artwork of Oasis, Verve and more up in Manchester Piccadilly
Danny Jones
If you’ve passed through Manchester Piccadilly of late, you might have noticed two things: one, it’s really quiet, and two, there’s loads of cool Britpop merch and memorabilia on display, including original Oasis, The Verve, Inspiral Carpets art and more – all courtesy of Microdot.
Set up as part of the city’s own BRITs celebrations, along with a raft of other nationwide festivities, as the annual music award ceremony prepares to make its Manc debut at the Co-op Live this month, the showcase features special edition frames and more, all pride of place in the middle of the train station.
This collection, simply entitled ‘A Microdot Design’, is all done by the legendary Brian Cannon, the graphic designer and art director behind so much recognisable visual material within the genre.
We recently had the honour of speaking to the man himself in person ahead of Piccadilly’s temporary closure; you can see our interview with him right here:
The Wigan-born artist and visionary didn’t just make promotional materials for some of the biggest bands in the 1990s; he’s responsible for what has gone on to become some of the most familiar iconography in British music history.
With this pop-up exhibit available for a limited time only, we strongly urge you to go along and, for once, take your time rather than rushing around the station as you peruse the boards placed right near the main entrance.
Charting his work from circa 1990 up until now, it’s crazy to see just how many of Brian and Microdot’s fingerprints are all over so many different bands and artists.
From native names like Oasis, The Verve and the Inspirals, as mentioned, as well as the likes of Cast, Super Furry Animals, Suede and Ash, plus so many more, this guy has been nothing short of prolific over the past few decades.
Audio North took a little tour of the King Street South unit last year in the lead-up to Oasis Live ’25 reunion world tour, and we felt like kids in a Britpop sweetshop.
While this site has sadly since closed, shutting up shop back in July, Brian’s mini, modest, but nevertheless magic Microdot Boutique up in the Lake District is still standing.
Located in the popular North West town and tourist attraction, Kendal, it’s worth a trip there to see more of his portfolio alone.
Currently on display at Manchester Piccadilly ahead of the full 2026 BRITs Week and shindig at Co-op Live, it’s one of the best completely free things you can do in town at the moment – but the exhibition finishes on Sunday, 1 March, so make sure you don’t miss it.
Speaking of the BRIT Awards, if you’re wondering what else is on as 0161 gets ready welcome them for their two-year stint (at least), look no further…
Two brothers from Oldham are beating out the likes of Taylor Swift in the iTunes charts
Danny Jones
A pair of brothers from Oldham who simply go by Two Connors are now holding on to the top spot in one of the biggest iTunes charts, and they’re beating the likes of Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Bad Bunny and many more.
Stuff your global music stars, we’ll back a duo from Greater Manchester all day long.
Danny and Callum Connor, a couple of blokes from Oldham in their mid-30s, are currently number one in the iTunes singles charts with their latest song, ‘Familiar Faces’, but this isn’t the first time they’ve gone big with a release online.
Carving out their own little corner not only in the old Lancashire borough but a small pocket in the UK’s wider grime, drill, rap and hip-hop scene, they’ve only gotten bigger over the last 18 months or so.
After releasing their first two tracks back in 2024, Callum and Danny have been on a very gradual rise, but they quickly gained a cult local following in and around Oldham.
Writing about life and around the area, with high personal and anecdotal lyrics that feel like niche references and in-jokes specifically for‘Roughyed’ residents – it’s not just music by them but FOR them.
In addition to recording their own unique cover of ‘Bad Habits’ by Ed Sheeran, they also went fairly viral for releasing a music video featuring crowds of local children.
Putting their own chant-based chorus slant on ‘Hi Ho, Hi Ho, “It’s off to Work We Go”‘, written by Mitch Miller and The Sandpipers (yes, as in the main theme from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), it was a fairly radio-friendly tune that was easy for kids and more to sing along with.
With various other natives getting involved in the music video, joining them on the town centre streets and lip-syncing the lyrics, it was circulated online all over Britain and beyond.
You can watch it in full down below.
Fast forward to February 2026, and not only have they grown their following across the region, but even further afield now, as it turns out; currently sitting ahead of ‘Opalite’ from worldwide smash-hit album, The Life of a Showgirl, who needs big label backing, eh?
Bringing smiles to even more Greater Mancs by quite literally shining the spotlight on ‘Familiar Faces’ and punters from nearby pubs such as The Up Stepps Inn and former nightclub Sruples, it is a real tribute to their homeland.
Only time will tell how long they’ll cling to that iTunes top spot, but with nearly 73,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and counting, they might be one of the biggest music names to come out of OL in some time.
In other big news over in Oldham, on the sporting side of things, RLFC are staring down yet more uncertainty, with local hero Bill Quinn also wrapping up his time at the club.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd February 2022 
