Over £4 million has been returned to victims of a global cryptocurrency scam.
Specialist police officers in Manchester tracked down two suspects - a 23-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman - and arrested them for fraud and money laundering offences.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have also confirmed that £7 million is yet to be claimed.
150 victims have come forward to request the return of their cash, with 23 being verified and having had their money returned.
The other 127 are still being investigated by Greater Manchester Police and other forces around the world with more victims encouraged to come forward.
Just over £16 million was collected by officers last year after the suspects were arrested and officers discovered an encrypted USB stick that contained roughly £7 million.
Another £9.3 million was recovered just days later as police located a "Cryptograph safety deposit box and the code to access it", the force revealed.
The money was stolen from victims in the UK, US, Europe, China, Hong Kong and Australia who had deposited cryptocurrency funds into what was marketed as an online savings and trading service.
Once the scammers had collected enough money they closed down the service and transferred the tokens into their own accounts.
The suspects have since been released under investigation.
Detective Chief Inspector Joe Harrop, from GMP's economic and cyber crime unit, said: "Our lives are now online or on our phones, and currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum are often seen as the future when it comes to money and trading.
"However, this type of crime is increasing across the globe and criminals are getting savvier by finding ways to exploit the trend, in ways even the most expected users can't anticipate."
