Security News
As part of its continued hardline against ransomware attacks, the U.S. Department of Treasury has prohibited anyone in the United States from conducting business with SUEX OTC, a Russian-linked currency exchange. The feds analyzed SUEX's transactions and found that the exchange facilitated transactions of illicit proceeds from at least eight ransomware variants, according to the release.
Larry Dean Harmon, the owner of a dark web cryptocurrency laundering service known as Helix, pleaded guilty today of laundering over $300 million worth of bitcoins between 2014 and 2017. "In total, Helix moved over 350,000 bitcoin - valued at over $300 million at the time of the transactions - on behalf of customers, with the largest volume coming from Darknet markets."
"Worried about dirty funds in your BTC address? Come check out Antinalysis, the new address risk analyzer," reads the service's announcement, pointing to a link only accessible via ToR. "This service is dedicated to individuals that have the need to possess complete privacy on the blockchain, offering a perspective from the opponent's point of view in order for the user to comprehend the possibility of his/her funds getting flagged down under autocratic illegal charges." "Some people might ask, why go into all that? Just cash out in XMR and be done with it. The problem is, cashing out in Monero raises eyebrows on exchanges and mail by cash method is sometimes risky as well. If you use BTC->XMR->BTC method, you'll still get flagged down by our services labelled as high risk exchange. Our service provides you with a view from LE/exchange's perspective of things that provides you with basic knowledge of how"clean" your address is.
The Security Service of Ukraine took down a network of cryptocurrency exchanges used to anonymize transactions since the beginning of 2021. "The clandestine cryptocurrency exchanges were in demand because they provided anonymity of transactions and possibility of money laundering," the SBU said.
An Israeli national has pleaded guilty to his role in operating DeepDotWeb, a website that functioned as a gateway to various Dark Web marketplaces, the U.S. Justice Department announced on Wednesday. The man, Tal Prihar, 37, together with co-defendant Michael Phan, 34, of Israel, owned and operated DeepDotWeb between October 2013 and May 2019, when the website was seized by authorities.
The U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday said that an Israeli national pleaded guilty for his role as an "Administrator" of a portal called DeepDotWeb, a "News" website that "Served as a gateway to numerous dark web marketplaces." According to the unsealed court documents, Tal Prihar, 37, an Israeli citizen residing in Brazil, operated DDW alongside Michael Phan, 34, of Israel, starting October 2013, in return for which they received kickbacks from the operators of the marketplaces in the form of virtual currency amounting to 8,155 bitcoins.
Scott Matteson: How is technology being used for money laundering efforts? Gudmundur Kristjansson: Money laundering begins when illegal sums are deposited in a bank, which triggers a complex sequence of banking transfers or commercial transactions that return the money to the launderer in an obscure and indirect way.
Two Ukrainians charged for their involvement in a network providing cash-out and money laundering services to cybercriminals have been extradited to the United States. According to the indictment, the two were part of a cash-out and money laundering network offering services to cybercriminals who accessed bank accounts using stolen credentials, and then transferred funds to drop accounts maintained by the cash-out actors.
U.S. federal prosecutors have charged John McAfee, founder of cybersecurity firm McAfee, and his executive advisor Jimmy Gale Watson Jr for cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering. In total, McAfee, Watson, and other members of the McAfee Team were able to collect over $13 million from two cryptocurrency pump-and-dump schemes, according to court documents.
A Russian bitcoin expert at the center of a multi-country legal tussle was sentenced in Paris on Monday to five years in prison for money laundering and ordered to pay 100,000 euros in fines in a case of suspected cryptocurrency fraud. Vinnik denies wrongdoing, and his lawyers are discussing whether to appeal.