Fraudsters exploited a leak of personal data from Kent County, UK, to steal approximately $1.2 million in cryptocurrency from nine victims, local police reported.

According to the warning, scammers used stolen personal information to create fake crime reports. They then contacted victims, posing as law enforcement officers, and falsely claimed they were under investigation.

The “officer” instructed the victim to wait for a follow-up call from the “wallet owner.”

A supposed “customer support representative” then reached out to each victim, tricking them into revealing their seed phrase. This allowed scammers to take full control of the victims’ crypto holdings.

“Using this information, the fraudsters restored the wallets, stole the funds, and transferred them in a way that made recovery impossible,” the police statement said.

Detective Sergeant Darryl Paulson urged the public never to share personal data over the phone and to report any fraud attempts immediately.

In February, Binance CEO Richard Teng warned about a new seed phrase scam. According to him, criminals send fake wallet compromise alerts, tricking users into “securing” their funds by providing access to a scammer-controlled address.