Jump to content

Cryptocurrency and crime

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cryptocurrency and crime describe notable examples of cybercrime related to theft (or the otherwise illegal acquisition) of cryptocurrencies and some methods or security vulnerabilities commonly exploited. Cryptojacking is a form of cybercrime specific to cryptocurrencies used on websites to hijack a victim's resources and use them for hashing and mining cryptocurrency.[1]

According to blockchain analysis company Chainalysis, around US$2.5 billion was laundered through Bitcoin between 2009 and 2018, and the fraction of cryptocurrency transactions linked to illicit activities has been on the rise since early 2019.[2] In 2021, 0.15% of known cryptocurrency transactions conducted were involved in illicit activities like cybercrime, money laundering and terrorism financing, representing a total of $14 billion.[3]

Background

[edit]
For broader coverage of this topic, see Cryptocurrency wallet.

There are various types of cryptocurrency wallets available, with different layers of security, including devices, software for different operating systems or browsers, and offline wallets.

Novel exploits unique to blockchain transactions exist, and aim to generate unintended outcomes for those involved. One of the more well-known issues that open the possibility for exploits on Bitcoin is the transaction malleability problem.[4]

The Immunefi Crypto Losses 2022 Report lists industry losses from frauds and hacking as a combined total of US$3.9 billion for the year, and US$8 billion for 2021.[5]

Notable thefts

[edit]

In 2018, around US$1.7 billion in cryptocurrency was lost to scams, theft and fraud. In the first quarter of 2019, such losses rose to US$1.2 billion.[6] 2022 was a record year for cryptocurrency theft, according to Chainalysis, with US$3.8 billion[7] stolen worldwide during 125 system hacks,[8] including US$1.7 billion stolen by "North Korea-linked hackers".[7]

Exchanges

[edit]

Notable cryptocurrency exchange compromises resulting in the loss of cryptocurrencies include:

  • Between 2011 and 2014, US$350 million worth of bitcoin was stolen from Mt. Gox.[9]
  • In 2016, US$72 million was stolen through exploiting Bitfinex's exchange wallet, users were refunded.[10]
  • On December 7, 2017, Slovenian cryptocurrency exchange NiceHash reported that hackers had stolen over $70 million using a hijacked company computer.[11][12]
  • On December 19, 2017, Yapian, the owner of South Korean exchange Youbit, filed for bankruptcy after suffering two hacks that year.[13][14] Customers were still granted access to 75% of their assets.[15]
  • In 2018, cryptocurrencies worth US$400 million were stolen from Coincheck.[16]
  • In May 2018, Bitcoin Gold had its transactions hijacked and abused by unknown hackers.[17] Exchanges lost an estimated $18 m and Bitcoin Gold was delisted from Bittrex after it refused to pay its share of the damages.
  • In June 2018, South Korean exchange Coinrail was hacked, losing over $37M worth of crypto.[18] The hack worsened an already ongoing cryptocurrency selloff by an additional $42 billion.[19]
  • On July 9, 2018, the exchange Bancor, whose code and fundraising had been subjects of controversy, had $23.5 million in cryptocurrency stolen.[20][21]
  • Zaif US$60 million in Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Monacoin was stolen in September 2018[22]
  • Binance In 2019 cryptocurrencies worth US$40 million were stolen.[16][23]
  • Africrypt founders are suspected of absconding in June 2021 with US$3.6 billion worth of Bitcoin[24]
  • PolyNetwork (DeFi) suffered a loss of US$611 million in a theft in August 2021.[25]
  • Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Liquid was compromised in August 2021 resulting in a loss of US$97 million worth of digital coins[26]
  • Cream Finance was subject to a US$29 million theft in August 2021[27] and $130 million on October 28, 2021.[28]
  • On December 2, 2021, users of the BadgerDAO DeFi lost around $118,500,000 worth of bitcoin and $679,000 worth of ethereum tokens in a front-end attack. A compromised API key of the Cloudflare content delivery network account allowed the injecting of a malicious script into the web interface. BadgerDAO "paused" all smart contracts due to user complaints.[29]
  • On December 6, 2021, the cryptocurrency exchange BitMart lost around $135M worth of Ethereum and an estimated $46 million in other cryptocurrencies due to a breach of two of its wallets.[30] Although BitMart stated that it would reimburse its clients, many BitMart clients have not received any money from the exchange as of January 2022.[31]
  • On December 12, 2021, users of VulcanForge lost around $135M worth of PYR due to breaches of multiple wallets. Partnering centralized exchanges had been notified of the hack and they have pledged to seize any stolen funds upon deposit.[32]
  • On January 27, 2022, Qubit Finance (DeFi) lost around $80M worth of Binance Coin due to a flaw in the smart contract that enabled the withdrawal of the said amount in exchange for a deposit of 0 ETH.[33]
  • In March 2022,[34] the largest cryptocurrency theft of the year, US$625 million in ether and USD coin was stolen from the Ronin Network. Hacked nodes were finally discovered when a user reported being unable to withdraw funds. The heist was later linked to Lazarus Group, a North Korean state-backed hacking collective, by the U.S. Treasury Department.[8]
  • On September 20, 2022, Wintermute was hacked resulting in theft of US$160 million. The company attributed the vulnerability to a service used by the platform that generates vanity addresses for digital accounts.[8]
  • On September 25, 2023, it was reported that $200 million was stolen by hackers from crypto firm Mixin Network. The company stated that the database of its network's cloud service provider was attacked by hackers resulting in the loss of the assets.[35][36]

Wallets

[edit]

The Parity Wallet has had two security incidents amounting to 666,773 ETH lost or stolen.[37] In July 2017, due to a bug in the multi-signature code, 153,037 ETH (approximately US$32 million at the time) were stolen.[38][39] In November 2017, a subsequent multisignature[clarification needed] flaw in Parity made 513,774 ETH (about US$150 million) unreachable;[40][41] as of March 2019, the funds were still frozen.[42]

Energy

[edit]

Notable cases of electricity theft to mine proof-of-work cryptocurrencies include:

  • In February 2021 Malaysian police arrested six men involved in a Bitcoin mining operation which had stolen US$2 million in electricity[43]
  • Ukraine authorities shut down an underground gaming and cryptocurrency farm in July 2021, accused of stealing $259,300 of electricity each month[44]
  • In July 2021 Malaysian authorities destroyed 1,069 cryptocurrency mining systems accused of stealing electricity from the grid[45]
  • In May 2021 UK authorities closed a suspected bitcoin mine after Western Power Distribution found an illegal connection to the electricity supply[46]

Blockchains

[edit]

Bitcoin

[edit]

There have been many cases of bitcoin theft.[47] As of December 2017, around 980,000 bitcoins—over five percent of all bitcoin in circulation[a]—had been lost on cryptocurrency exchanges.[48]

One type of theft involves a third party accessing the private key to a victim's bitcoin address,[49] or an online wallet.[50] If the private key is stolen, all the bitcoins from the compromised address can be transferred. In that case, the network does not have any provisions to identify the thief, block further transactions of those stolen bitcoins, or return them to the legitimate owner.[51]

Theft also occurs at sites where bitcoins are used to purchase illicit goods. In late November 2013, an estimated US$100 million in bitcoins were allegedly stolen from the online illicit goods marketplace Sheep Marketplace, which immediately closed.[52] Users tracked the coins as they were processed and converted to cash, but no funds were recovered and no culprits were identified.[52] A different black market, Silk Road 2, stated that during a February 2014 hack, bitcoins valued at $2.7 million were taken from escrow accounts.[53]

Sites where users exchange bitcoins for cash or store them in "wallets" are also targets for theft. Inputs.io, an Australian wallet service, was hacked twice in October 2013 and lost more than $1 million in bitcoins.[54] GBL, a Chinese bitcoin trading platform, suddenly shut down on 26 October 2013; subscribers, unable to log in, lost up to $5 million worth of bitcoin.[55] In late February 2014 Mt. Gox, one of the largest virtual currency exchanges, filed for bankruptcy in Tokyo amid reports that bitcoins worth US$350 million had been stolen.[56] Flexcoin, a bitcoin storage specialist based in Alberta, Canada, shut down in March 2014 after saying it discovered a theft of about $650,000 in bitcoins.[57] Poloniex, a digital currency exchange, reported in March 2014 that it lost bitcoins valued at around $50,000.[58] In January 2015 UK-based bitstamp, the third busiest bitcoin exchange globally was hacked and US$5 million in bitcoins were stolen.[59] In February 2015, a Chinese exchange named BTER lost bitcoins worth nearly $2 million to hackers.[60]

A major bitcoin exchange, Bitfinex, was compromised by the 2016 Bitfinex hack, when nearly 120,000 bitcoins (around US$71 million) were stolen in 2016.[61] Bitfinex was forced to suspend its trading. The theft was the second-largest bitcoin heist ever, dwarfed only by the Mt. Gox theft in 2014. According to Forbes, "All of Bitfinex's customers... will stand to lose money. The company has announced a cut of 36.067% across the board."[62] Following the hack the company failed to refund customers, though efforts are continuing.[63] In 2022, the US government recovered 94,636 bitcoin (worth approximately $3.6 billion at the time of recovery) from the 2016 thefts of the Bitfinex exchange, reported as the "largest financial seizure" in U.S. history.[64] By February 2022, the amount of bitcoin stolen in 2016 had increased in value to $4.5 billion. Two people were arrested for the thefts[65] in 2022; married couple Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein and rapper Heather "Razzlekhan" Morgan were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States.[64]

On May 7, 2019, hackers stole over 7000 Bitcoins from the Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange, at a value of over 40 million US dollars. Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng stated: "The hackers used a variety of techniques, including phishing, viruses, and other attacks... The hackers had the patience to wait, and execute well-orchestrated actions through multiple seemingly independent accounts at the most opportune time."[66]

Thefts have raised safety concerns. Charles Hayter, founder of the digital currency comparison website CryptoCompare said, "It's a reminder of the fragility of the infrastructure in such a nascent industry."[67] According to the hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business on April 2, 2014, "these vendors lack regulatory oversight, minimum capital standards and don't provide consumer protection against loss or theft."[68]

Japan and the United States have accused North Korean hackers of stealing cryptocurrency worth over $300 million from the Japan-based exchange DMM Bitcoin. The theft was attributed to the TraderTraitor group, believed to be part of the Lazarus Group, which is allegedly linked to North Korean authorities. The incident occurred in late May 2024, involving the theft of 4,502.9 Bitcoin. The theft involved the hackers using social engineering tactics to impersonate a recruiter on LinkedIn and send a malicious pre-employment test to an employee at a crypto wallet software company. This allowed them to compromise the employee's system and manipulate a legitimate transaction request from DMM, resulting in the loss of 4,502.9 Bitcoin. The FBI and Japan's National Police Agency are collaborating to combat North Korea's cybercrime activities, which date back to the mid-1990s and include a cyber-warfare unit known as Bureau 121. The Lazarus Group has previously gained notoriety for its involvement in high-profile hacks, including the attack on Sony Pictures in retaliation for the film "The Interview."

Ethereum

[edit]
See also: Ethereum § Launch and the DAO event (2014–2016)

In June 2016, hackers exploited a vulnerability in The DAO to steal US$50 million. Subsequently, the currency was forked into Ethereum Classic, and Ethereum, with the latter continuing with the new blockchain without the exploited translations.[69][70]

On November 21, 2017, Tether announced that it had been hacked, losing $31 million in USDT from its core treasury wallet.[71] The company has 'tagged' the stolen currency, hoping to 'lock' them in the hacker's wallet (making them unspendable).[citation needed]

In 2022, hackers created a signature account on a blockchain bridge called "Wormhole" and stole more than $300 million worth of ether.[72]

Fraud

[edit]

Exit scams and Ponzi schemes through initial coin offerings (ICOs)

[edit]

Most exit scams (or rugpulls) as well as many ponzi schemes involving cryptocurrencies are performed through Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs).[73] As an example, according to a report by Satis Group, almost 80% of all projects launched through an ICO in 2017 were scams.[74] These scams usually involve attracting investments from mostly retail investors, inflating the price and the perpetrators subsequently abandoning the project in question after selling off their own shares.[75]

The novelty of ICOs accounts for the current lack of governmental regulation.[76] This lack of regulatory measures as well as the pseudonymity of cryptocurrency transactions and their international nature across countless jurisdictions in many different countries can make it much more difficult to identify and take legal action against perpetrators involved in these scams.[77][78] Since 2017 the SEC has been actively pursuing groups and individuals responsible for ICO-related scams.[79]

[edit]
  • AriseCoin (AriseBank): AriseBank marketed itself as the world's first decentralized bank, falsely claiming to be able to offer FDIC-insured accounts, VISA cards as well as services related to cryptocurrency and making other false statements.[80] AriseBank promoted its AriseCoin through celebrity endorsement and social media in order to raise the US$1 billion the company was aiming for.[81] Their ICO was halted by the SEC in early 2018 with their CEO and COO receiving a fine of US$2.7 million.[82]
  • BitConnect: Bitconnect was among the highest-performing cryptocurrencies in 2017, promising investors enormous returns through a trading bot.[83] At its height, it reached a market capitalization of US$3.4 billion.[84] In early 2018 the exchanged ceased to operate with investors losing millions of dollars, amounting to a total of US$14.5 million.[85] It later turned out that the initial profits were generated through a Ponzi scheme by paying earlier customers with money made through newer customers.[86] Legal action against the perpetrators was taken on an international scale.[87]
  • Centra: Centra was a Miami-based company that claimed to offer a cryptocurrency-based debit card backed by a VISA and Mastercard. The company raised US$32 million by October 2017 through an ICO and, f few months later, performed an exit scam. In April 2018 two of the founders were arrested. It was soon revealed that neither Mastercard nor VISA backed the company in their alleged efforts.[85]
  • Modern Tech (PinCoin/iFan): Based in Vietnam, Modern Tech hosted two separate ICOs for PinCoin as well as iFan promising monthly returns of 48%.[85] After the initial success, the founders ran off with approximately US$660 million raised from 32,000 investors.[88] The founders are still at large and none of the funds have been retrieved.[89]
  • PlexCoin: After Dominic Lacroix and Sabrina Paradis-Rogers (the founders of PlexCoin) had officially raised around US$15 million through a fraudulent ICO in August 2017 while promising a return of 1,354 % within a month, the SEC filed a civil complaint in December of the same year against them and sought an injunction to cease those sales, freeze the assets involved, pay civil penalties and prohibit the ones responsible behind the token launch from participating in any future offerings of cryptocurrency.[90] Shortly after Lacroix was sentenced to two months in prison and fined CA$110,000 by the Quebec Superior Court.[91] The SEC's proceedings led to seven-figure fines for the defendants in 2019 and a retrieval of the investors' funds.[92] During the proceedings, the SEC was able to prove that the success of the ICO was inflated by the founders who in fact had raised US$8.5 million instead of the US$15 million they had announced.[93]

Ponzi schemes

[edit]

Ponzi schemes are another common form of utilizing blockchain-based technologies to commit fraud. Most schemes of this sort use multi-level marketing schemes to encourage investors to conduct risky investments.[94] Onecoin is one of the more notable examples of cryptocurrency-ponzi schemes: Founded in 2014 by Ruja Ignatova, OneCoin is estimated to have generated US$4 billion in income.[83] While at least in China some of the investors' funds have been recovered and several members of the organisation arrested in the U.S., Ignatova herself is still at large.[95]

Money laundering

[edit]
See also: Money laundering

Due to the inability of third parties to de-pseudonymize crypto transactions criminal entities have often resorted to using cryptocurrency to conduct money laundering.[96] Especially ICOs lacking KYC guidelines and anti-money laundering procedures are often used to launder illicit funds due to the pseudonymity they offer.[81] By using ICOs criminals launder these funds by buying tokens off of legitimate investors and selling them. This issue is intensified by the lack of measures against money laundering implemented by centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.[81]

A well-known early example of money laundering using cryptocurrencies is Silk Road. Shut down in 2013 with its founder Ross Ulbricht indicted for among other counts a money laundering conspiracy, the website was used for several illicit activities including money laundering solely using Bitcoin as a form of payment.[97]

Apart from traditional cryptocurrencies, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are also commonly used in connection with money laundering activities.[98] NFTs are often used to perform Wash Trading by creating several different wallets for one individual, generating several fictitious sales and consequently selling the respective NFT to a third party.[99] According to a report by Chainalysis, these types of wash trades are becoming increasingly popular among money launderers especially due to the largely anonymous nature of transactions on NFT marketplaces.[100][101] Auction platforms for NFT sales may face regulatory pressure to comply with anti-money laundering legislation.[102]

Regulatory measures

[edit]

Canada is generally regarded as the first state actor implementing regulatory measures dealing with money laundering conducted by the usage of cryptocurrencies.[103] By 2013 the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) — in direct reference to the centralized exchange Mt. Gox — issued regulations making it clear that all crypto-to-fiat exchangers had to apply KYC- as well as anti-money laundering methods.[104] Any suspicious transactions have therefore to be reported to the authorities.[105] Centralized exchanges have to register as money transmitters, with the exact definition of who and what constitutes a money transmitter in the crypto sphere being somewhat blurred and regulations differing between the different states of the U.S.[106] An important exemption from these regulations is decentralized exchanges due to the fact that they do not hold any fiat currency.[107]

As part of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive of 2015 and in an effort to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism, the European Union has issued a directive making all member-states have to make sure that crypto exchanges are licensed and registered.[108] The EU is furthermore planning to take measures to ensure that all customers of cryptocurrency exchanges are to verify their identity as part of the registration process.[109]

Regarding NFTs
[edit]

Auction platforms for NFT sales may face regulatory pressure to comply with anti-money laundering legislation. A February 2022 study from the United States Treasury assessed that there was "some evidence of money laundering risk in the high-value art market," including through "the emerging digital art market, such as the use of non-fungible tokens (NFTs)."[110] The study considered how NFT transactions may be a simpler option for laundering money through art by avoiding transportation or insurance complications in trading physical art. Several NFT exchanges were labeled as virtual asset service providers that may be subject to Financial Crimes Enforcement Network regulations.[111]

The European Union has yet to establish specific regulations to combat money laundering through NFTs. The European Commission announced in July 2022 that it is planning to draw regulations regarding that issue by 2024.[112][109]

Pig butchering

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from Pig butchering scam.[edit]
Cryptocurrency and crime
Simplified Chinese杀猪盘
Traditional Chinese殺豬盤
Literal meaningKilling pig game[113]
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinShā zhū pán

A pig butchering scam (in Chinese sha zhu pan[114] or shazhupan,[115] (Chinese: 杀猪盘), translated as killing pig game)[113] is a type of long-term scam and investment fraud in which the victim is gradually lured into making increasing contributions, usually in the form of cryptocurrency, to a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme.[116]

Such scams are commonplace on social apps. In October 2023, 12% of Americans using dating apps experienced exposure to this type of fraud, up from 5% in 2018.[117] The scammer builds trust with the victim through online communication, subsequently persuading them to invest in a fraudulent cryptocurrency scheme. The "butchering" or "slaughtering" of the victim transpires when their assets or funds are stolen.[118]

The scam originated in China in 2016 or earlier,[119] and proliferated in Southeast Asia amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Perpetrators are typically victims of a fraud factory,[120] where they are lured to travel internationally under false pretenses, trafficked to another location, and forced to commit the fraud by organised crime gangs.[121]

Further examples

[edit]

Josh Garza, who founded the cryptocurrency startups GAW Miners and ZenMiner in 2014, acknowledged in a plea agreement that the companies were part of a pyramid scheme, and pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2015. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission separately brought a civil enforcement action against Garza, who was eventually ordered to pay a judgment of US$9.1 million plus $700,000 in interest. The SEC's complaint stated that Garza, through his companies, had fraudulently sold "investment contracts representing shares in the profits they claimed would be generated" from mining.[122] Garza was later found guilty of fraud and ordered to pay US$9 million and begin serving a 21-month sentence commencing January 2019 by the U.S. Attorney's Office District of Connecticut.[citation needed]

The cryptocurrency community refers to pre-mining, hidden launches, ICO or extreme rewards for the altcoin founders as deceptive practices.[123] This is at times an inherent part of the cryptocurrency's design.[124] Pre-mining refers to the practice of generating the currency before its released to the public.[125]

FTX and Alameda Research founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was indicted by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in December 2022 and charged with commodities and wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering, as well as with violating campaign finance laws.[126][127]

Malware

[edit]

Malware attacks

[edit]

Some malware can steal private keys for bitcoin wallets allowing the bitcoins themselves to be stolen. The most common type searches computers for cryptocurrency wallets to upload to a remote server where they can be cracked and their coins are stolen. Many of these also log keystrokes to record passwords, often avoiding the need to crack the keys.[128] A different approach detects when a bitcoin address is copied to a clipboard and quickly replaces it with a different address, tricking people into sending bitcoins to the wrong address.[129] This method is effective because bitcoin transactions are irreversible.[130]: 57 

One virus, spread through the Pony botnet, was reported in February 2014 to have stolen up to $220,000 in cryptocurrencies including bitcoins from 85 wallets.[131] Security company Trustwave, which tracked the malware, reports that its latest version was able to steal 30 types of digital currency.[132]

A type of Mac malware active in August 2013, Bitvanity posed as a vanity wallet address generator and stole addresses and private keys from other bitcoin client software.[133] A different trojan for macOS, called CoinThief was reported in February 2014 to be responsible for multiple bitcoin thefts.[133] The software was hidden in versions of some cryptocurrency apps on Download.com and MacUpdate.[133]

Ransomware

[edit]

Many types of ransomware demand payment in bitcoin.[134][135] One program called CryptoLocker, typically spread through legitimate-looking email attachments, encrypts the hard drive of an infected computer, then displays a countdown timer and demands a ransom in bitcoin, to decrypt it.[136] Massachusetts police said they paid a 2 bitcoin ransom in November 2013, worth more than $1,300 at the time, to decrypt one of their hard drives.[137] Bitcoin was used as the ransom medium in the WannaCry ransomware.[138] One ransomware variant disables internet access and demands credit card information to restore it, while secretly mining bitcoins.[136]

As of June 2018, most ransomware attackers preferred to use currencies other than bitcoin, with 44% of attacks in the first half of 2018 demanding Monero, which is highly private and difficult to trace, compared to 10% for bitcoin and 11% for Ether.[139]

Unauthorized mining

[edit]
This section is an excerpt from Cryptojacking.[edit]

Cryptojacking is the act of exploiting a computer to mine cryptocurrencies, often through websites,[140][141][142] against the user's will or while the user is unaware.[143] One notable piece of software used for cryptojacking was Coinhive, which was used in over two-thirds of cryptojacks before its March 2019 shutdown.[144] The cryptocurrencies mined the most often are privacy coins—coins with hidden transaction histories—such as Monero and Zcash.[141][145]

Like most malicious attacks on the computing public, the motive is profit, but unlike other threats, it is designed to remain completely hidden from the user. Cryptojacking malware can lead to slowdowns and crashes due to straining of computational resources.[146]

Bitcoin mining by personal computers infected with malware is being challenged by dedicated hardware, such as FPGA and ASIC platforms, which are more efficient in terms of power consumption and thus may have lower costs than theft of computing resources.[147]

Phishing

[edit]

A phishing website to generate private IOTA wallet seed passphrases, and collected wallet keys, with estimates of up to US$4 million worth of MIOTA tokens stolen. The malicious website operated for an unknown amount of time and was discovered in January 2018.[148]

Fraud factories

[edit]

Fraud factories in Asia traffic workers to scam Westerners into buying cryptocurrencies online.[149]

Other incidents

[edit]

In 2015, two members of the Silk Road Task Force—a multi-agency federal task force that carried out the U.S. investigation of Silk Road—were convicted over charges pertaining to corruption.[150] Former DEA agent, Carl Mark Force, had attempted to extort Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht ("Dread Pirate Roberts") by faking the murder of an informant. He pleaded guilty to money laundering, obstruction of justice, and extortion under color of official right, and was sentenced to 6.5 years in federal prison.[150] Former U.S. Secret Service agent, Shaun Bridges, pleaded guilty to crimes relating to his diversion of $800,000 worth of bitcoins to his personal account during the investigation, and also separately pleaded guilty to money laundering in connection to another cryptocurrency theft. Bridges was sentenced to almost eight years in federal prison.[151]

Gerald Cotten founded QuadrigaCX in 2013, after graduating from the Schulich School of Business in Toronto. Cotten was acting as the sole curator of the exchange. Quadriga had no official bank accounts since banks at the time had no method of managing cryptocurrency. In late 2018, Canada's largest crypto exchange QuadrigaCX lost US$190 million in cryptocurrency when the owner died; he was the only one with knowledge of the password to a storage wallet. The exchange filed for bankruptcy in 2019.[152]

In 2018, Ellis Pinsky, 15 years old, was accused of orchestrating a scheme to steal millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies from Michael Terpin, a prominent cryptocurrency investor. The scheme involved a social engineering technique known as the SIM swap scam. The case attracted significant attention due to Pinsky's young age and the substantial amount of money involved. It raised questions about the security of digital assets and the challenges in regulating and prosecuting crimes in the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrencies. Pinsky later reached a settlement to return $22 million in cryptocurrency to Terpin.[153][154][155][156][157] In May 2020, Pinsky experienced a home invasion by intruders searching for remaining stolen assets.[158] Michael Terpin, the founder and chief executive officer of Transform Group, a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based company that advises blockchain businesses on public relations and communications, sued Ellis Pinsky in New York on May 7, 2020, for leading a "sophisticated cybercrime spree" that stole US$24 million in cryptocurrency by hacking into Terpin's phone in 2018.[159][160] Terpin also sued Nicholas Truglia and won a $75.8 million judgment against Truglia in 2019 in California state court.[160]

On July 15, 2020, Twitter accounts of prominent personalities and firms, including Joe Biden, Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Apple, Kanye West, Michael Bloomberg and Uber were hacked. Twitter confirmed that it was a coordinated social engineering attack on their own employees. Twitter released its statement six hours after the attack took place. Hackers posted the message to transfer the Bitcoin to a Bitcoin wallet, which would double the amount. The wallet's balance was expected[according to whom?] to increase to more than $100,000 as the message spread among Twitter followers.[161]

In 2021, US Authorities carried out a raid on James Zhong's home in Gainesville, Georgia. Authorities found over 51,000 bitcoin that Zhong had stolen from Silk Road between 2012 and 2013. Through an error on Silk Road, Zhong was able to withdraw more bitcoin than what was initially deposited. He concealed his identity and was able to evade authorities for nearly a decade. Zhong ended up pleading guilty to wire fraud and was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in prison along with a forfeiture of all bitcoin.[162]

In 2022, the Federal Trade Commission reported that $139 million in cryptocurrency was stolen by romance scammers in 2020.[163] Some scammers target dating apps with fake profiles.[164]

In early 2022, the Beanstalk cryptocurrency was stripped of its reserves, which were valued at more than US$180 million, after attackers had managed to use borrowed US$80 million in cryptocurrency to buy enough voting rights to transfer the reserves to their own accounts outside the system. It was initially unclear if such an exploit of governance procedures was illegal.[165]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ As of supply count of Bitcoin, 2021-09-23

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Lachtar, Nada; Elkhail, Abdulrahman Abu; Bacha, Anys; Malik, Hafiz (2020-07-01). "A Cross-Stack Approach Towards Defending Against Cryptojacking". IEEE Computer Architecture Letters. 19 (2): 126–129. doi:10.1109/LCA.2020.3017457. ISSN 1556-6056. S2CID 222070383.
  2. ^ Teichmann, Fabian Maximilian Johannes; Falker, Marie-Christin (2020-01-01). "Money laundering via cryptocurrencies – potential solutions from Liechtenstein". Journal of Money Laundering Control. 24 (1): 91–101. doi:10.1108/JMLC-04-2020-0041. ISSN 1368-5201.
  3. ^ Smagalla, Mengqi Sun and David (2022-01-06). "Cryptocurrency-Based Crime Hit a Record $14 Billion in 2021". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 2022-10-07. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  4. ^ Andrychowicz, Marcin; Dziembowski, Stefan; Malinowski, Daniel; Mazurek, Łukasz (2015), "On the Malleability of Bitcoin Transactions", Financial Cryptography and Data Security, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 8976, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 1–18, doi:10.1007/978-3-662-48051-9_1, ISBN 978-3-662-48050-2
  5. ^ Melinek, Jacquelyn (2023-01-05). "Crypto losses in 2022 dropped 51% year on year to $4B". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2023-01-20. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  6. ^ Chavez-Dreyfuss, Gertrude (30 April 2019). "Cryptocurrency thefts, fraud hit $1.2 billion in first quarter: report". Reuters. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 8 June 2019. Original reports: Schlabach, Adam (2019-01-29). "Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report – Q4 2018". CipherTrace. Archived from the original on 2019-05-28. Retrieved 2019-06-08., Schlabach, Adam (2019-05-01). "Q1 2019 Cryptocurrency Anti-Money Laundering Report". CipherTrace. Archived from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  7. ^ a b Lyngaas, Sean (2023-04-09). "Inside the international sting operation to catch North Korean crypto hackers | CNN Politics". CNN. Archived from the original on 2023-04-21. Retrieved 2023-04-21.
  8. ^ a b c Bambysheva, Nina; Santillana Linares, Maria Gracia: "Over $3 Billion Stolen In Crypto Heists: Here Are The Eight Biggest" Archived 2023-01-07 at the Wayback Machine Forbes; December 28, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  9. ^ Zack Whittaker (5 January 2015). "Bitstamp exchange hacked, $5M worth of bitcoin stolen". Zdnet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  10. ^ "Bitcoin Worth $72M Was Stolen in Bitfinex Exchange Hack in Hong Kong". Fortune. Archived from the original on November 20, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  11. ^ Iyengar, Rishi (2017-12-07). "More than $70 million stolen in bitcoin hack". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  12. ^ Browne, Ryan (2017-12-07). "More than $60 million worth of bitcoin potentially stolen after hack on cryptocurrency site". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2017-12-12. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  13. ^ Haselton, Todd (2017-12-19). "A South Korean cryptocurrency exchange files for bankruptcy after hack, says users will get 75% of assets for now". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2022-09-06. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  14. ^ "South Korean cryptocurrency exchange to file for bankruptcy after hacking". Reuters. 2017-12-19. Archived from the original on 2022-05-28. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  15. ^ "Bitcoin exchange Youbit shuts after second hack attack". BBC. 19 December 2017. Archived from the original on 6 May 2024. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  16. ^ a b "Coincheck Says It Lost Crypto Coins Valued at About $400 Million". Bloomberg L.P. January 26, 2018. Archived from the original on 2022-08-23. Retrieved 2018-01-27.
  17. ^ Cimpanu, Catalin (4 September 2018). "Bitcoin Gold delisted from major cryptocurrency exchange after refusing to pay hack damages". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 24 May 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  18. ^ Shane, Daniel (2018-06-11). "Billions in cryptocurrency wealth wiped out after hack". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 2018-07-11. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  19. ^ Eric Lam, Jiyeun Lee, and Jordan Robertson (10 June 2018), Cryptocurrencies Lose $42 Billion After South Korean Bourse Hack, Bloomberg News, archived from the original on 12 June 2018, retrieved 12 June 2018{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ Roberts, Jeff John (9 July 2018). "Another Crypto Fail: Hackers Steal $23.5 Million from Token Service Bancor". Fortune. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  21. ^ Young, Joseph (2017-06-24). "Cornell Professor: $150 Million Bancor is Flawed". CCN.com. Archived from the original on 2022-03-02. Retrieved 2022-03-02.
  22. ^ Reidy, Gearoid (2018-09-19). "Hackers Steal $60 Million From Japanese Crypto Exchange Zaif". Bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2021-05-26. Retrieved 2018-09-20.
  23. ^ "Hackers Stole $40 Million from Binance Crypto Exchange". Wired. Archived from the original on 2022-10-12. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  24. ^ "South African brothers disappear along with $3.6 billion in Bitcoin". Fortune. Archived from the original on 2021-11-29. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  25. ^ Welle (www.dw.com), Deutsche. "Hackers steal $600 million in record-breaking cryptocurrency heist | DW | 11.08.2021". DW.COM. Archived from the original on 2022-03-08. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  26. ^ Browne, Ryan (2021-08-19). "More than $90 million in cryptocurrency stolen after a top Japanese exchange is hacked". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2022-08-26. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  27. ^ "Hackers steal $29 million from crypto-platform Cream Finance". The Record by Recorded Future. 2021-08-30. Archived from the original on 2022-05-31. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  28. ^ Ongweso Jr., Edward. "Cryptocurrency Loan Platform Implodes In $130 Million Hack". Vice. Archived from the original on 2022-12-20. Retrieved 2022-12-20.
  29. ^ "Hackers Steal $119M From 'Web3' Crypto Project With Old School Attack". The Verge. 2022-03-23. Archived from the original on 2022-10-08. Retrieved 2021-12-09.
  30. ^ "Hackers Steal $150M From Crypto Exchange Billed as 'Most Trusted'". The Verge. 2021-12-06. Archived from the original on 2022-06-01. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  31. ^ Sigalos, MacKenzie (2022-01-07). "Iranian immigrant lost $53,000 in crypto hack, says he faces ruin if BitMart doesn't pay him back". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2022-01-08.
  32. ^ "Hackers Steal $140 Million From Users of Crypto Gaming Company". The Verge. 2021-12-13. Archived from the original on 2022-08-05. Retrieved 2021-12-14.
  33. ^ "Hackers have stolen $80 million in cryptocurrency from the Qubit DeFi platform". The Verge. 2021-01-28. Archived from the original on 2022-08-28. Retrieved 2022-01-29.
  34. ^ "Crypto Year Ender: Here’s A Look At Major Crypto Scams Of 2022" Archived 2022-12-30 at the Wayback Machine Outlook India; December 30, 2022. Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  35. ^ Howcroft, Elizabeth (2023-09-25). "Hong Kong crypto firm hit by $200 million hack". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  36. ^ Hardcastle, Jessica Lyons. "Mixin suspends some crypto services after $200m heist". www.theregister.com. Archived from the original on 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2023-09-25.
  37. ^ "Major issues resulting in lost or stuck funds". Ethereum Wiki. Archived from the original on 2021-10-18. Retrieved 2021-03-07.[better source needed]
  38. ^ Hern, Alex (8 November 2017). "'$300m in cryptocurrency' accidentally lost forever due to bug". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 17 September 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  39. ^ "The Multi-sig Hack: A Postmortem". Parity. 20 July 2017. Archived from the original on 27 February 2021.
  40. ^ Destefanis, Giuseppe; Marchesi, M.; Ortu, Marco; Tonelli, R.; Bracciali, A.; Hierons, R. (2018). "Smart contracts vulnerabilities: A call for blockchain software engineering?". 2018 International Workshop on Blockchain Oriented Software Engineering (IWBOSE). pp. 19–25. doi:10.1109/IWBOSE.2018.8327567. hdl:1893/27135. ISBN 978-1-5386-5986-1. S2CID 4569204.
  41. ^ "A Postmortem on the Parity Multi-Sig Library Self-Destruct". Blockchain Infrastructure for the Decentralised Web. 15 November 2017. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021.
  42. ^ Wieczner, Jen (4 March 2019). "Ethereum Fork Could Help Restore Frozen Parity Cryptocurrency". Fortune. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2021.
  43. ^ Tan, Ben (17 February 2021). "Johor police chief: TNB lost RM8.6m to alleged electricity theft by bitcoin mining syndicate | Malay Mail". www.malaymail.com. Archived from the original on 2022-08-20. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  44. ^ "Take a look inside this underground crypto mining farm in Ukraine with its 3,800 PlayStations and 5,000 computers". news.yahoo.com. 11 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-10-27. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  45. ^ "Police steamroll 1,000 bitcoin mines after 'electricity theft' prompts power outages". finance.yahoo.com. 20 July 2021. Archived from the original on 2022-09-02. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  46. ^ "Sandwell Bitcoin mine found stealing electricity". BBC News. 2021-05-28. Archived from the original on 2022-06-24. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  47. ^ "Bitcoin: Bitcoin under pressure". The Economist. 30 November 2013. Archived from the original on 30 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  48. ^ Harney, Alexandra; Stecklow, Steve (2017-11-16). "Twice burned - How Mt. Gox's bitcoin customers could lose again". Reuters. Archived from the original on 2019-08-29. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  49. ^ Jeffries, Adrianne (19 December 2013). "How to steal Bitcoin in three easy steps". The Verge. Archived from the original on 10 May 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  50. ^ Everett, David (April 2012). "So how can you steal Bitcoins". Smartcard & Identity News. Archived from the original on 18 October 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  51. ^ Grocer, Stephen (2 July 2013). "Beware the Risks of the Bitcoin: Winklevii Outline the Downside". The Wall Street Journal (Moneybeat). Archived from the original on 31 January 2021. Retrieved 21 October 2013.
  52. ^ a b Hern, Alex (9 December 2013). "Recovering stolen bitcoin: a digital wild goose chase". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 9 July 2019. Retrieved 6 March 2014.
  53. ^ "Silk Road 2 loses $2.7m in bitcoins in alleged hack". BBC News. 14 February 2014. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
  54. ^ Hern, Alex (8 November 2013). "Bitcoin site Inputs.io loses £1m after hackers strike twice". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 July 2019. Retrieved 18 September 2015.
  55. ^ "When bitcoins go bad: 4 stories of fraud, hacking, and digital currencies". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 1 January 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2015.
  56. ^ "MtGox bitcoin exchange files for bankruptcy". bbc.com. BBC. 28 February 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  57. ^ Ligaya, Armina (5 March 2014). "After Alberta's Flexcoin, Mt. Gox hacked, Bitcoin businesses face sting of free-wheeling ways". Financial Post. Archived from the original on 7 March 2014. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  58. ^ Truong, Alice (6 March 2014). "Another Bitcoin exchange, another heist". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 10 July 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  59. ^ Whittaker, Zack (5 January 2015). "Bitstamp exchange hacked, $5M worth of bitcoin stolen". Zdnet. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on 16 October 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
  60. ^ Millward, Steven (16 February 2015). "Nearly $2M in bitcoins feared lost after Chinese cryptocurrency exchange hack". techinasia.com. Tech In Asia. Archived from the original on 30 May 2019. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  61. ^ Samira Sadeque and agencies (February 8, 2022). "US married couple arrested for allegedly conspiring to launder $4.5bn in bitcoin". www.theguardian.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2022. Retrieved February 9, 2022.
  62. ^ Coppola, Frances (6 August 2016). "Theft And Mayhem In The Bitcoin World". Forbes. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  63. ^ Kharif, Olga (10 February 2022). "Who will get crypto back after arrests in $3.6-billion bitcoin hack?". LA Times. Archived from the original on 2024-05-06. Retrieved 2024-05-06.
  64. ^ a b "The Ballad of Razzlekhan and Dutch, Bitcoin's Bonnie and Clyde". Vanity Fair. 2022-08-16. Archived from the original on 2023-05-24. Retrieved 2023-06-04.
  65. ^ Vigna, Paul (9 February 2022). "How the Feds Tracked Down $3.6 Billion in Stolen Bitcoin". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 11 September 2022. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  66. ^ Barrett, Brian (2019-05-08). "Hack Brief: Hackers Stole $40 Million from Binance Cryptocurrency Exchange". Wired. Archived from the original on 2022-10-12. Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  67. ^ Heller, Matthew (4 August 2016). "Bitfinex Hack Fuels Bitcoin Security Concerns -". CFO. Archived from the original on 29 January 2017. Retrieved 11 January 2017.
  68. ^ "Testimony of Mark T. Williams Bitcoin: Examining the Benefits and Risks for Small Business" (PDF). U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Small Business Hearing. 2 April 2014. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2017.
  69. ^ Popper, Nathaniel: "Hacker May Have Taken $50 Million From Cybercurrency Project" Archived 2017-06-20 at the Wayback Machine The New York Times. June 18, 2016. (Archived from the original June 20, 2017.) Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  70. ^ Price, Rob: "Digital Currency Ethereum is Cratering Amid Claims of a $50 Million Hack" Business Insider. June 17, 2016. (Archived from the original June 11, 2017.) Retrieved January 7, 2023.
  71. ^ Russell, Jon. "Tether, a startup that works with bitcoin exchanges, claims a hacker stole $31M". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 21 November 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2017.
  72. ^ Goodin, Dan (2022-02-04). "How $323M in crypto was stolen from a blockchain bridge called Wormhole". Ars Technica. Archived from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2022-03-03.
  73. ^ Hou, Greg (2022). "Cryptocurrency money laundering and exit scams: Cases, regulatory responses and issue". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 83. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  74. ^ Cryptoasset Market Coverage Initiation: Network Creation (Report). Satis Group. 11 July 2018. p. 24. Archived from the original on 16 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023. See Nestarcova, Dominika (2019). A Critical Appraisal of Initial Coin Offerings. Lifting the "Digital Token's Veil". Leiden/Boston: Brill. p. 43. ISBN 978-90-04-41657-4.
  75. ^ This phenomenon is described in detail at the hand of several examples in Hou, Greg (2022). "Cryptocurrency money laundering and exit scams: Cases, regulatory responses and issue". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 85–87. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7. See also the sources cited there.
  76. ^ Nestarcova, Dominika (2019). A Critical Appraisal of Initial Coin Offerings. Lifting the "Digital Token's Veil". Leiden/Boston: Brill. pp. 43 f. ISBN 978-90-04-41657-4.
  77. ^ Rao, Sandeep (2022). "Mt. Gox – The fall of a giant". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 80. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  78. ^ Nestarcova, Dominika (2019). A Critical Appraisal of Initial Coin Offerings. Lifting the "Digital Token's Veil". Leiden/Boston: Brill. pp. 43 f. ISBN 978-90-04-41657-4. Cf. Clayton, Jay (11 December 2017). "Statement on Cryptocurrencies and Initial Coin Offerings". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Archived from the original on 31 January 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023. Please also recognize that these markets span national borders and that significant trading may occur on systems and platforms outside the United States. Your invested funds may quickly travel overseas without your knowledge. As a result, risks can be amplified, including the risk that market regulators, such as the SEC, may not be able to effectively pursue bad actors or recover funds.
  79. ^ Johnstone, Syren (2021). Rethinking the Regulation of Cryptoassets. Cryptographic Consensus Technology and the New Prospect. Cheltenham/Northampton: Edward Elgar. pp. 61 f. ISBN 9781800886780.
  80. ^ See Girasa, Rosario (2018). Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technologies. National and International Perspectives. Pleasantville: Palgrave. pp. 156 f. ISBN 978-3-319-78508-0.
  81. ^ a b c Nestarcova, Dominika (2019). A Critical Appraisal of Initial Coin Offerings. Lifting the "Digital Token's Veil". Leiden/Boston: Brill. p. 44. ISBN 978-90-04-41657-4.
  82. ^ Conlon, Thomas; McGee, Richard J. (2022). "ICO fraud and regulation". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 47. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7. Cf. "SEC Halts Alleged Initial Coin Offering Scam". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 30 January 2018. Archived from the original on 10 March 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  83. ^ a b Conlon, Thomas; McGee, Richard J. (2022). "ICO fraud and regulation". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 46. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  84. ^ Girasa, Rosario (2022). "Criminal Prosecutions and Civil Litigation Concerning Blockchain Technologies". Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technologies. National and International Perspectives. Pleasantville: Palgrave. p. 184. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78509-7. ISBN 978-3-319-78508-0.
  85. ^ a b c Hou, Greg (2022). "Cryptocurrency money laundering and exit scams: Cases, regulatory responses and issue". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 86. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  86. ^ Girasa, Rosario (2022). "Criminal Prosecutions and Civil Litigation Concerning Blockchain Technologies". Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technologies. National and International Perspectives. Pleasantville: Palgrave. p. 185. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78509-7. ISBN 978-3-319-78508-0.
  87. ^ See Conlon, Thomas; McGee, Richard J. (2022). "ICO fraud and regulation". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 46. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7. Cf. Michaels, Dave (1 September 2021). "SEC Sues BitConnect and Founder, Alleging Massive Cryptocurrency Scam of World-Wide Investors". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 6 March 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  88. ^ Nestarcova, Dominika (2019). A Critical Appraisal of Initial Coin Offerings. Lifting the "Digital Token's Veil". Leiden/Boston: Brill. p. 43. ISBN 978-90-04-41657-4.
  89. ^ Conlon, Thomas; McGee, Richard J. (2022). "ICO fraud and regulation". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 45 f. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  90. ^ Girasa, Rosario (2022). "Criminal Prosecutions and Civil Litigation Concerning Blockchain Technologies". Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technologies. National and International Perspectives. Pleasantville: Palgrave. p. 212. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78509-7. ISBN 978-3-319-78508-0. Cf. "SEC v. PlexCorps, Dominic LaCroix, and Sabrina Paradis-Royer Case No. 17-cv-7007 (CBA) (RML) (E.D.N.Y.)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  91. ^ Girasa, Rosario (2022). "Criminal Prosecutions and Civil Litigation Concerning Blockchain Technologies". Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technologies. National and International Perspectives. Pleasantville: Palgrave. p. 212. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78509-7. ISBN 978-3-319-78508-0.
  92. ^ Girasa, Rosario (2022). "Criminal Prosecutions and Civil Litigation Concerning Blockchain Technologies". Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technologies. National and International Perspectives. Pleasantville: Palgrave. p. 213. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78509-7. ISBN 978-3-319-78508-0.
  93. ^ Conlon, Thomas; McGee, Richard J. (2022). "ICO fraud and regulation". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 47. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  94. ^ Mukherjee, Sanmoy; Larkin, Charles; Corbet, Shaen (2022). "Cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 118. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  95. ^ See Mukherjee, Sanmoy; Larkin, Charles; Corbet, Shaen (2022). "Cryptocurrency Ponzi schemes". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 112. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7. as well as Bartlett, Jamie (24 November 2019). "Cryptoqueen: How this woman scammed the world, then vanished". BBC News. Archived from the original on 21 December 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  96. ^ Albrecht, Chad; Duffin, Kristopher McKay; Hawkins, Steven; Rocha, Victor Manuel Morales (2019). "The use of cryptocurrencies in the money laundering process". Journal of Money Laundering Control. 22 (2): 213. doi:10.1108/JMLC-12-2017-0074. S2CID 159087019.
  97. ^ Stabile, Daniel T.; Prior, Kimberly A.; Hinkes, Andrew M. (2020). Digital Assets and Blockchain Technology. US Law and Regulation. Cheltenham/Northampton: Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 299–301. ISBN 978-1-78990-743-8.
  98. ^ Owen, Allison; Chase, Isabella (December 2, 2021). NFTs: A New Frontier for Money Laundering? (Report). Royal United Services Institute. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  99. ^ Study of the Facilitation of Money Laundering and Terror Finance Through the Trade in Works of Art (PDF) (Report). United States Department of the Treasury. 2022. p. 27. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  100. ^ Quiroz-Gutierrez, Marco (February 4, 2022). "A handful of NFT users are making big money off of a stealth scam. Here's how 'wash trading' works". Fortune. Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  101. ^ "Crime and NFTs: Chainalysis Detects Significant Wash Trading and Some NFT Money Laundering In this Emerging Asset Class". Chainalysis. February 2, 2022. Archived from the original on 6 December 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  102. ^ Cf. Study of the Facilitation of Money Laundering and Terror Finance Through the Trade in Works of Art (PDF) (Report). United States Department of the Treasury. 2022. p. 26. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  103. ^ Johnstone, Syren (2021). Rethinking the Regulation of Cryptoassets. Cryptographic Consensus Technology and the New Prospect. Cheltenham/Northampton: Edward Elgar. p. 61. ISBN 9781800886780.
  104. ^ Dwyer, Gerald P. (2022). "Regulation of cryptocurrencies". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 201 f. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  105. ^ Dwyer, Gerald P. (2022). "Regulation of cryptocurrencies". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. p. 202. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  106. ^ Dwyer, Gerald P. (2022). "Regulation of cryptocurrencies". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 202–204. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  107. ^ Dwyer, Gerald P. (2022). "Regulation of cryptocurrencies". In Corbet, Shaen (ed.). Understanding Cryptocurrency Fraud. The challenges and headwinds to regulate digital currencies. Boston/Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 204 f. ISBN 978-3-11-071688-7.
  108. ^ Girasa, Rosario (2022). "Criminal Prosecutions and Civil Litigation Concerning Blockchain Technologies". Regulation of Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technologies. National and International Perspectives. Pleasantville: Palgrave. p. 315. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-78509-7. ISBN 978-3-319-78508-0.
  109. ^ a b Schickler, Jack (September 2, 2022). "Money Laundering via Metaverse, DeFi, NFTs Targeted by EU Lawmakers' Latest Draft". Archived from the original on 15 December 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  110. ^ "Treasury Releases Study on Illicit Finance in the High-Value Art Market". U.S. Department of the Treasury. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  111. ^ Study of the Facilitation of Money Laundering and Terror Finance Through the Trade in Works of Art (PDF) (Report). United States Department of the Treasury. 2022. p. 26. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 April 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  112. ^ Reiche, Matthias (July 12, 2022). "Umgang mit Bitcoin & Co. Wie die EU den Kryptomarkt reguliert" (in German). Archived from the original on 14 December 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  113. ^ a b "What is a 'pig-butchering' Scam?". Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance. Archived from the original on 2024-07-26. Retrieved 2024-07-25.
  114. ^ Wang, Fangzhou.
  115. ^ Santiago, Jan; Camba, Alvin (2024-02-15). "Why the US and China Should Work Together to Solve the Global Scam Crisis". The Diplomat. Archived from the original on 2024-07-20. Retrieved 2024-07-20.
  116. ^ "Unmasking Pig-Butchering Scams and Protecting Your Financial Future - Noticias de seguridad - Trend Micro ES". www.trendmicro.com. Archived from the original on 2023-11-03. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  117. ^ "The Pig Butchering Scam: 10 Common Warning Signs". www.aura.com. Archived from the original on 2024-05-27. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  118. ^ "District of Massachusetts | United States Files Forfeiture Action to Recover Cryptocurrency Traceable to Pig Butchering Romance Scam | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 2024-03-13. Archived from the original on 2024-04-28. Retrieved 2024-04-28.
  119. ^ Liu, Sijie; Liu, Jingyu (27 February 2019). "东南亚"杀猪盘"："爱情"圈养的网络骗局" (in Chinese). The Beijing News. Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
  120. ^ "FinCEN Issues Alert on Prevalent Virtual Currency Investment Scam Commonly Known as 'Pig Butchering'". www.fincen.gov. Archived from the original on 2023-11-03. Retrieved 2023-11-03.
  121. ^ "The involuntary criminals behind pig-butchering scams". MIT Technology Review. Archived from the original on 2024-04-30. Retrieved 2024-01-29.
  122. ^ Farivar, Cyris (October 5, 2017). GW Miners founder owes nearly $10 million to SEC over Bitcoin fraud]. Archived from the original on 2017-12-29. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  123. ^ "Scamcoins". August 2013. Archived from the original on 1 February 2014.
  124. ^ Bradbury, Danny (25 June 2013). "Bitcoin's successors: from Litecoin to Freicoin and onwards". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  125. ^ Morris, David Z (24 December 2013). "Beyond bitcoin: Inside the cryptocurrency ecosystem". Fortune. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  126. ^ Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs (December 13, 2022). "FTX Founder Indicted for Fraud, Money Laundering, and Campaign Finance Offenses". Archived from the original on 28 December 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  127. ^ "The SBF indictment in full". Financial Times. December 13, 2022. Archived from the original on 23 December 2022. Retrieved 15 February 2023.
  128. ^ "Cryptolocker Virus Definition". Kaspersky. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 17 Feb 2020.
  129. ^ Keizer, Gregg (28 February 2014). "Bitcoin malware count soars as cryptocurrency value climbs". Computerworld. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  130. ^ Barski, Conrad; Wilmer, Chris (14 November 2014). Bitcoin for the Befuddled. No Starch Press. ISBN 978-1-59327-573-0.
  131. ^ Zach Miners (24 February 2014). "Bitcoins, other digital currencies stolen in massive 'Pony' botnet attack". Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 8 January 2015.
  132. ^ Finkle, Jim (24 February 2014). "'Pony' botnet steals bitcoins, digital currencies: Trustwave". Reuters. Archived from the original on 23 October 2021. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  133. ^ a b c "Watch out! Mac malware spread disguised as cracked versions of Angry Birds, Pixelmator and other top apps". ESET. 26 February 2014. Archived from the original on 12 April 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  134. ^ "You're infected—if you want to see your data again, pay us $300 in Bitcoins". Ars Technica. 17 October 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  135. ^ "Criminals continue to defraud and extort funds from victims using cryptowall ransomware schemes". FBI. Archived from the original on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2017.
  136. ^ a b "How Ransomware turns your computer into a bitcoin miner". The Guardian. 10 February 2014. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  137. ^ Gibbs, Samuel (21 November 2013). "US police force pay bitcoin ransom in Cryptolocker malware scam". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 23 April 2019. Retrieved 7 March 2014.
  138. ^ Usborne, Simon (15 May 2017). "Digital gold: why hackers love Bitcoin". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 28 March 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  139. ^ Rooney, Kate (2018-06-07). "$1.1 billion in cryptocurrency has been stolen this year, and it was apparently easy to do". CNBC. Archived from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-09-06.
  140. ^ Larson, Selena (2018-02-22). "Cryptojackers are hacking websites to mine cryptocurrencies". CNNMoney. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  141. ^ a b Hatmaker, Taylor (8 May 2018). "Cryptojacking malware was secretly mining Monero on many government and university websites". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2023-07-09. Retrieved 2023-07-09.
  142. ^ Lachtar, Nada; Elkhail, Abdulrahman Abu; Bacha, Anys; Malik, Hafiz (2020-07-01). "A Cross-Stack Approach Towards Defending Against Cryptojacking". IEEE Computer Architecture Letters. 19 (2): 126–129. doi:10.1109/LCA.2020.3017457. ISSN 1556-6056. S2CID 222070383.
  143. ^ Caprolu, Maurantonio; Raponi, Simone; Oligeri, Gabriele; Di Pietro, Roberto (2021-04-01). "Cryptomining makes noise: Detecting cryptojacking via Machine Learning". Computer Communications. 171: 126–139. arXiv:1910.09272. doi:10.1016/j.comcom.2021.02.016. S2CID 233402711.
  144. ^ "Coinhive domain repurposed to warn visitors of hacked sites, routers". BleepingComputer. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2021-04-17.
  145. ^ Hwang, Inyoung (7 May 2021). "What is cryptojacking? How to detect mining malware - MediaFeed". mediafeed.org. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09. Retrieved 2021-05-11.
  146. ^ "Brutal cryptocurrency mining malware crashes your PC when discovered". ZDNet. Archived from the original on 2022-12-09.
  147. ^ "Bitcoin's Computing Crisis". 31 October 2013. Archived from the original on 14 May 2021. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
  148. ^ "IOTA Founder On Stolen Funds: Lots of People Will "Screw You Over"". Finance Magnates. January 25, 2018. Archived from the original on October 21, 2021. Retrieved January 27, 2018.
  149. ^ "The Kenyans lured to become unwitting 'love' fraudsters". BBC News. 2022-11-26. Archived from the original on 2022-11-26. Retrieved 2022-11-26.
  150. ^ a b Sarah Jeong, DEA Agent Who Faked a Murder and Took Bitcoins from Silk Road Explains Himself Archived 29 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Motherboard, Vice (25 October 2015).
  151. ^ Nate Raymond, Ex-agent in Silk Road probe gets more prison time for bitcoin theft Archived 29 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Reuters (7 November 2017).
  152. ^ Rich, Nathaniel (22 November 2019). "Ponzi Schemes, Private Yachts, and a Missing $250 Million in Crypto: The Strange Tale of Quadriga". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 22 October 2022. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  153. ^ "How 'Baby Al Capone' Pulled Off a $24 Million Crypto Heist". Rolling Stone. 8 July 2022.
  154. ^ "The 15-year-old boy who stole $24 million in cryptocurrency". El País. 31 July 2022.
  155. ^ "When Crypto Scammers Stole $23 Million, This Victim Found Them". Bloomberg. 7 December 2022.
  156. ^ "'Evil mastermind of cyberscam was Ellis Pinsky, 15'". The Times (Archived). Archived from the original on 2021-09-13. Retrieved 2023-09-08.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  157. ^ Barr, Kyle (2022-10-14). "SIM Card Swindler 'Baby Al Capone' Agrees to Pay Back $22 Million to Hacked Crypto Investor". Gizmodo.
  158. ^ "The 15-year-old boy who stole $24 million in cryptocurrency". El País. 31 July 2022.
  159. ^ Kaplan, Michael (2019-04-13). "Hackers are stealing millions in Bitcoin — and living like big shots". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2022-08-20. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  160. ^ a b "Teen Hacker and Crew of 'Evil Geniuses' Accused of $24 Million Crypto Theft". www.msn.com. Archived from the original on 2022-10-18. Retrieved 2020-05-08.
  161. ^ "Twitter hack: accounts of prominent figures, including Biden, Musk, Obama, Gates, and Kanye compromised". The Guardian. 16 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 July 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
  162. ^ "Southern District of New York | Silk Road Dark Web Fraud Defendant Sentenced Following Seizure And Forfeiture Of Over $3.4 Billion In Cryptocurrency | United States Department of Justice". www.justice.gov. 14 April 2023. Archived from the original on 10 August 2023. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  163. ^ Roth, Emma (14 February 2022). "Romance scammers collected $139 million in crypto last year". The Verge. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  164. ^ Roose, Kevin (21 February 2022). "Crypto Scammers' New Target: Dating Apps". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 12 October 2022. Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  165. ^ Hern, Alex (18 April 2022). "Beanstalk cryptocurrency loses $182m of reserves in a flash 'attack'". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 15 October 2022. Retrieved 18 April 2022.
[edit]
Retrieved from "http://en.wiki.x.io/w/index.php?title=Cryptocurrency_and_crime&oldid=1265379149"