Triplet-Style Dynamic Graph Network With Transformer Encoder for Scam Detection in Cryptocurrency Transactions

The surge in cryptocurrencies has been accompanied by a significant rise in scams, underscoring the critical need for precise scam detection. Cryptocurrency markets and transaction networks are dynamic, leading to evolving scam tactics and transaction topologies that challenge detection efforts. Com...

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Main Authors: Min-Woo Nam, Hyeon-Ju Lee, Seok-Jun Buu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IEEE 2025-01-01
Series:IEEE Access
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Online Access:https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11015956/
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author Min-Woo Nam
Hyeon-Ju Lee
Seok-Jun Buu
author_facet Min-Woo Nam
Hyeon-Ju Lee
Seok-Jun Buu
author_sort Min-Woo Nam
collection DOAJ
description The surge in cryptocurrencies has been accompanied by a significant rise in scams, underscoring the critical need for precise scam detection. Cryptocurrency markets and transaction networks are dynamic, leading to evolving scam tactics and transaction topologies that challenge detection efforts. Compounding this, scammers cleverly mimic benign transactions, blurring the lines between legitimate and illicit activities. To address these intertwined challenges, we introduce the Triplet-style Dynamic Graph Convolutional Network (TD-GCN). TD-GCN is specifically engineered to model the dynamic nature of cryptocurrency transaction networks and to disentangle subtle distinctions between scam and benign transaction patterns. It leverages a Transformer Encoder for dynamic weight updates, effectively capturing network evolution, and employs Triplet Learning to disentangle representations of similar-appearing scam and benign transactions. Evaluations on a real-world Bitcoin transaction network demonstrate TD-GCN’s superior scam detection performance. Notably, TD-GCN achieves a leading F1-macro score of 0.8855 and a 10.36%p precision increase over competing models, crucial for minimizing false positives. Ablation studies highlight the Triplet Dynamic Disentangle component’s key role, reducing false positives by 81.1%. TD-GCN’s performance gains stem from its dynamic updates for evolving networks and Triplet Learning for disentangling subtly different patterns. These features enable TD-GCN to significantly bolster cryptocurrency security by effectively detecting scams and minimizing false positives in dynamic transaction networks.
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spelling doaj-art-01734a2c4d5a4d99a8dbc9fc35cef4ea2025-08-20T03:07:28ZengIEEEIEEE Access2169-35362025-01-0113944029441510.1109/ACCESS.2025.357403811015956Triplet-Style Dynamic Graph Network With Transformer Encoder for Scam Detection in Cryptocurrency TransactionsMin-Woo Nam0https://orcid.org/0009-0004-4476-8406Hyeon-Ju Lee1Seok-Jun Buu2https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3940-3611Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Computer Science and Engineering, School of Aerospace Engineering, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, Gyeongsangnam-do, Republic of KoreaThe surge in cryptocurrencies has been accompanied by a significant rise in scams, underscoring the critical need for precise scam detection. Cryptocurrency markets and transaction networks are dynamic, leading to evolving scam tactics and transaction topologies that challenge detection efforts. Compounding this, scammers cleverly mimic benign transactions, blurring the lines between legitimate and illicit activities. To address these intertwined challenges, we introduce the Triplet-style Dynamic Graph Convolutional Network (TD-GCN). TD-GCN is specifically engineered to model the dynamic nature of cryptocurrency transaction networks and to disentangle subtle distinctions between scam and benign transaction patterns. It leverages a Transformer Encoder for dynamic weight updates, effectively capturing network evolution, and employs Triplet Learning to disentangle representations of similar-appearing scam and benign transactions. Evaluations on a real-world Bitcoin transaction network demonstrate TD-GCN’s superior scam detection performance. Notably, TD-GCN achieves a leading F1-macro score of 0.8855 and a 10.36%p precision increase over competing models, crucial for minimizing false positives. Ablation studies highlight the Triplet Dynamic Disentangle component’s key role, reducing false positives by 81.1%. TD-GCN’s performance gains stem from its dynamic updates for evolving networks and Triplet Learning for disentangling subtly different patterns. These features enable TD-GCN to significantly bolster cryptocurrency security by effectively detecting scams and minimizing false positives in dynamic transaction networks.https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11015956/Scam detectioncryptocurrencytransformer encodertriplet learninggraph convolutional networkdisentanglement
spellingShingle Min-Woo Nam
Hyeon-Ju Lee
Seok-Jun Buu
Triplet-Style Dynamic Graph Network With Transformer Encoder for Scam Detection in Cryptocurrency Transactions
IEEE Access
Scam detection
cryptocurrency
transformer encoder
triplet learning
graph convolutional network
disentanglement
title Triplet-Style Dynamic Graph Network With Transformer Encoder for Scam Detection in Cryptocurrency Transactions
title_full Triplet-Style Dynamic Graph Network With Transformer Encoder for Scam Detection in Cryptocurrency Transactions
title_fullStr Triplet-Style Dynamic Graph Network With Transformer Encoder for Scam Detection in Cryptocurrency Transactions
title_full_unstemmed Triplet-Style Dynamic Graph Network With Transformer Encoder for Scam Detection in Cryptocurrency Transactions
title_short Triplet-Style Dynamic Graph Network With Transformer Encoder for Scam Detection in Cryptocurrency Transactions
title_sort triplet style dynamic graph network with transformer encoder for scam detection in cryptocurrency transactions
topic Scam detection
cryptocurrency
transformer encoder
triplet learning
graph convolutional network
disentanglement
url https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/11015956/
work_keys_str_mv AT minwoonam tripletstyledynamicgraphnetworkwithtransformerencoderforscamdetectionincryptocurrencytransactions
AT hyeonjulee tripletstyledynamicgraphnetworkwithtransformerencoderforscamdetectionincryptocurrencytransactions
AT seokjunbuu tripletstyledynamicgraphnetworkwithtransformerencoderforscamdetectionincryptocurrencytransactions