Naples Public Prosecutor's Office

Fake banknotes sold on Telegram and paid in Bitcoin: Carabinieri investigation into counterfeiting network

An alleged syndicate based in the Spanish neighbourhoods and with international projection reconstructed. Counterfeit currencies of 20, 50 and 100 euro, cryptocurrency payments, dropshipping, 61 charged and seizures of up to 536,880 euro

by Rome Editorial Staff

25 May 2026

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

The "ELREAL SHOP" channel
The International Front
The 'Achilles' heel': social, gaming and tattoos

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Counterfeit banknotes sold on Telegram, paid in Bitcoin, and shipped with criminal e-commerce logic. Counterfeit money, according to the Naples Public Prosecutor's Office, ran within a digital circuit made up of crypto channels, blockchain, cryptocurrencies, online identities and screened shipments. But it was not only investigative technology that cracked the alleged system. It would have been the human factor: social networks, gaming, personal nicknames, images posted on the net, tattoos and distinctive signs that ended up in promotional videos.

This is at the heart of the 'Domino' investigation, coordinated by the Naples Public Prosecutor's Office and conducted by the Carabinieri of the Cryptocurrency Section of the Anti-Money Counterfeiting Command, with the support of the Carabinieri's territorial branches.

12 arrests were made, of which 10 in flagrante delicto and 2 abroad. In addition, 61 persons were prosecuted for criminal conspiracy, currency counterfeiting and selflaundering.

The Public Prosecutor's Office also reports the seizure of means, computer tools and telematic channels used to commit the offences. In addition, there is also money, real estate and movable property in the possession of the suspects up to EUR 536,880.

The "ELREAL SHOP"

channel

Although with a network also projected abroad, the alleged group would have maintained its operational centre of gravity in the Quartieri Spagnoli in Naples. From there, according to the Public Prosecutor's Office, the organisation allegedly exploited the encrypted Telegram channel 'ELREAL SHOP', which was used to advertise the sale of counterfeit banknotes in Italia and abroad.

The sales network was based on blockchain technology. Payments were accepted exclusively in Bitcoin for the transfer of counterfeit currency in denominations of 20, 50, and 100 euro. Distribution, on the other hand, followed the logic of dropshipping, referred to in the press release as a means of guaranteeing anonymity in domestic and foreign shipments.

The International Front

The investigation had an international projection. The communiqué mentions the involvement and cooperation of the French, German, Spanish and Belgian authorities, as well as the support of Europol in liaising with the foreign police forces concerned.

The technical investigations by the European Central Bank allowed the counterfeit currency to be assigned the 'common class', because it circulated in several European countries: France, Switzerland, Ireland, Spain and Germany.

The 'Achilles' heel': social, gaming and tattoos

The strongest passage in the documents concerns the way in which digital anonymity would have been overcome. The 'Achilles heel' of the organisation, writes the prosecution, was the human factor: the social vanity and daily passions of the criminals would have allowed the investigators to overcome digital encryption with different investigative techniques.

According to the documents, the 'Game Over' of the digital identities of the persons under investigation and of the telematic markets traceable to the accounts 'ELREAL SHOP' and '@Eldiablo0301', the latter indicated as active in the sale of drugs and counterfeit currency, was obtained.

The identification of some suspects would have been possible in spite of attempts to anonymise connections and communications: invitations to online games on well-known consoles, use of their personal nicknames, activities and communications 'in the clear', reports on social networks and images referring to home environments or places where the body of the crime was allegedly held.

In other cases, so-called 'Ink Investigation' proved decisive: in the promotional videos of batches of counterfeit banknotes that had just been put up for sale, tattoos and other distinguishing marks were clearly discernible, which were later found on the persons of the suspects and in their homes.

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