Numerous scam tokens have launched under the symbol “TWIT” following Elon Musk’s latest Twitter bio change related to his acquisition of the company. With just a day to go before the billionaire acquires Twitter, Elon Musk has changed his bio on the platform to read “Chief Twit.” In the aftermath, multiple tokens named either “TWIT”...Read More
The residents of Massachusetts – Erig Meiggs and Declan Harrington – will go to jail for two years for stealing approximately $330,000 worth of cryptocurrency from victims. The criminals employed multiple techniques to drain assets, including “SIM swapping” and computer hacking. Fraudulent schemes involving digital assets have been on the rise lately in the USA....Read More
The Turkish authorities reportedly detected an illicit betting organization that used cryptocurrencies to launder crime funds. Following the investigation, law enforcement agents arrested 46 individuals involved in the scheme and confiscated $40 million worth of digital assets. ‘This Is Just the Beginning’ According to a local coverage, the Turkish police have detained the suspects across...Read More
Scams related to crypto wallets are on the rise, and users report a phishing application for mobile devices masquerading as Nami Cardano wallet designed to steal seed phrases and funds. The fake wallet was found on Apple’s App Store and is still available for download. If a user enters the seed phrase, the app steals...Read More
Scammers have reportedly sent consumers a new Solana Phantom security update assuring it will grant additional protection. However, wrongdoers have installed password-stealing malware through airdropped NFTs and used them to drain cryptocurrency from the affected wallets. Another Scam in the Space A recent coverage revealed that the scheme started two weeks ago when NFTs called...Read More
Brazil’s Federal Police reportedly halted the operations of a criminal gang led by the businessman Francisco Valdevino da Silva, a.k.a “Bitcoin Sheikh.” The authorities claimed that the wrongdoers defrauded thousands of people in the past few years and laundered up to 4 billion Brazilian reals ($766 million). Another Crypto Ponzi Scheme in Brazil GloboNews revealed...Read More
The Delaware Department of Justice’s Investor Protection Unit halted the operations of 23 entities and individuals involved in cryptocurrency romance frauds, known as “pig butchering” scams. A recent analysis conducted by Bankless Times estimated that Americans lost around $185 million between January 2021 and March 2022 due to such schemes. Crypto Scammers Again in the...Read More
Law enforcement agents from Hengyang (a city in the southern Chinese province Hunan) have reportedly busted a criminal group that employed cryptocurrencies to launder 40 billion yuan (approximately $5.6 billion). Over the past several months, China’s authorities halted numerous similar schemes, arresting thousands of people. The ‘Hundred-day Action’ According to a local coverage, the Chinese...Read More
Hackers have reportedly attacked several big-name South Korean YouTube channels in the past few months. After gaining access, most wrongdoers used the platform to upload cryptocurrency-related videos. Among the victims was the official YouTube channel of the South Korean government. Earlier this month, a group of cybercriminals compromised it so they could promote a crypto...Read More
Aiden Pleterski – a 23-year-old Canadian trader and self-described “Crypto King” – is being sued after allegedly failing to return at least $35 million to his investors. Authorities have already seized $2 million in assets from the Ontarian, including two McLarens, two BMWs, and a Lamborghini. Crypto Trader, or Fraudster? Pleterski ran a business called...Read More
The Securities and Exchange Commission launched a lawsuit again two advisory companies and their owner for running a Ponzi-like cryptocurrency scheme. The firms operated for over four years and manage to raise nearly $4.4 million. The lawsuit is against Creative Advancement LLC and Edelman Blockchain Advisors LLC as well as their owner – Gabriel Edelman....Read More
The Department of Justice (DOJ) of the United States created a unit consisting of over 150 federal prosecutors whose goal will be to combat cryptocurrency-related criminal activities. In addition, the government plans to introduce a set of regulatory frameworks that should aid the development of the local digital asset sector. Earlier this year, the DOJ...Read More
The cybercrime team of the Central Netherlands police arrested a 39-year-old resident of Veenendaal on suspicion of laundering tens of millions of euros via stolen cryptocurrencies. The police also suggested that the individual amassed his digital asset holdings through fake updates from crypto wallet Electrum. The Latest Crypto Scam in the Netherlands The Netherlands’ police...Read More
Joshua David Nicholas – a resident of Florida – pleaded guilty that he and other members of the cryptocurrency platform EmpiresX skimmed investors with $100 million worth of digital assets. He now faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in Federal prison. Last month, the US authorities brought to justice another criminal crew...Read More
Cryptocurrency scams are, unfortunately, a never-ending part of the industry, in which bad actors are trying to offer something too good to be true (usually to double one’s assets). The latest example came hours ago when Apple had a live event in regards to the new iPhones, AirPods, and Apple Watches. When the nearly 50-year-old...Read More
Popular cryptocurrency influencer and a well-known member of the community – FatManTerra – took it to Twitter to reveal that he deliberately created a fake Ponzi scheme to raise funds. The initiative supposedly saw upwards of $100,000 worth of BTC in investments. The influencer said: In two hours, I received over one hundred DMs. I raised 3.45%...Read More
The Albanian authorities arrested Faruk Fatih Ozer – the CEO of the Turkish cryptocurrency exchange Thodex – in the city of Elbasan. Last year, the platform ceased trading and withdrawals, while the 28-year-old executive was rumored to have left Turkey with $2 billion in users’ funds. Despite not managing to detect Ozer’s whereabouts, Turkish law...Read More
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) charged three residents of Miami – Esteban Cabrera Da Corte, Luis Hernandez Gonzalez, and Asdrubal Ramirez Meza – with defrauding banks and a cryptocurrency platform for over $4 million. The men used fake identification to buy digital assets, while later, they lied to financial institutions that the transactions were...Read More
SudoRare – a decentralized non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace – is reportedly the latest crypto project that had rug-pulled its customers. The project, established earlier today, shut down its operations six hours after launch after it was rug-pulled for 519 ETH (around $850,000 going by current prices). The blockchain security company – PeckShield – indicated that...Read More
It’s been a bad year for crypto so far – between large companies going under, a slew of cyberattacks, and – most importantly – the value of assets taking a nosedive, overall legitimate volumes have plummeted by 36% year over year., said Chainalysis. However, there is a silver lining – the illicit trading volumes have...Read More
According to a study conducted by Chainalysis, wrongdoers have stolen approximately $1.4 billion worth of digital assets between January 2022 and now. Targeting cryptocurrency bridges seems to have been a preferred method. Some examples of such attacks in 2022 include the exploit of the Horizon bridge, the $190 million breach on Nomad Bridge, and one...Read More
Dragoma, a Web3 lifestyle sports application built on Polygon, was rug pulled in the latest example of such an event in the crypto community. According to blockchain intelligence and security firm, PeckShield, the native token of the project – DMA – lost over 99% of its value following the incident. DMA pumped to an all-time...Read More
Cryptocurrency scams have reportedly been one of the most common cyber offenses in Hong Kong during the first half of 2022, and 25% involved digital assets. The concerning number of such fraudulent schemes could be explained by the growing interest in cryptocurrencies displayed by many Hong Kong residents. A recent research classified the state as...Read More
The US Department of Justice sentenced the 40-year-old resident of Pelahatchie, Mississippi – Jessica Sledge – to the statutory maximum of 10 years in Federal Prison. In 2021, the woman hired a “hitman” and paid him $10,000 worth of bitcoin to murder her husband. Additionally, the authorities jailed the citizens of Orange County – Jeremy...Read More
The blockchain analytics firm launched Chainalysis Government Solutions, a subsidiary focused on helping US government agencies investigate crypto-related crimes. According to the firm’s latest research, 75% of public sector agencies worldwide are under-prepared in terms of tackling crypto incidents, demonstrating an increasing need for relevant resources and technologies made available to investigators. Government Businesses After...Read More
The US State Department vowed to give up to $10 million to anyone who gives valuable information that could be used against North Korean cryptocurrency hacking collectives. The amount is double the previous bounty promised in March 2022. The Agency Needs Help North Korean hacking groups have been a significant burden for the American authorities...Read More
In a case stretching back as far as 2018, Michael Alan Stollery – the CEO of Titanium Blockchain Infrastructure Services (TBIS) – was accused of securities fraud by the SEC due to the way the ICO of his platform was handled. The case reached a turning point this week, as Stollery admitted to one count...Read More
An Atlanta film producer has recently pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering charges for promoting fraudulent crypto investment schemes that defrauded investors of over $2.5 million. Man Pleads Guilty to ICO Fraud In an official statement, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed that the 48-year-old convict, Ryan Felton, promoted an initial coin...Read More
The Miami-based blockchain security company – Halborn – closed a $90 million Series A financing round. The initiative comes at a time when numerous venture capital firms have withdrawn their interest in the crypto sector due to the downturn of the market. Pushing Forward Amidst the Crypto Winter In an interview for Bloomberg, Halborn disclosed...Read More
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned financial institutions and investors to be careful when dealing with digital assets because the sector is rammed by scammers whose only goal is to defraud people. As of the moment, the agency has identified 244 victims of fraudulent crypto schemes who lost a combined sum of $42.7 million....Read More
