Security News
Here's everything you need to know about what services need an AML revamp and how they should go about it. Gather enough data as fast as possible, and you can instantly spot bad actors and block them out, and move to more extensive KYC procedures to ensure their names do not appear on any AML lists and gauge the true intentions of suspicious users, saving money on unnecessary KYC and AML screenings.
The U.S. Department of Justice arrested and charged Russian national Anatoly Legkodymov, the founder of the Hong Kong-registered cryptocurrency exchange Bitzlato, with helping cybercriminals allegedly launder illegally obtained money. Because of "Deficient know-your-customer procedures, Bitzlato allegedly became a haven for criminal proceeds and funds intended for use in criminal activity," the DOJ said.
The Russian cybercrime community, one of the most active and prolific in the world, is turning to alternative money-laundering methods due to sanctions on Russia and law enforcement actions against dark web markets. First came the bank sanctions and the blocking of SWIFT payments, a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
An Israeli national was sentenced to 97 months in prison in connection with operating the DeepDotWeb clearnet website, nearly a year after the individual pleaded guilty to the charges. He pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in March 2021 and agreed to forfeit the illegally amassed profits.
BEC scams use various tactics to compromise or impersonate business email accounts with the end goal of redirecting pending or future payments to bank accounts under a threat actor's control. One of the case examples in the indictment document seen by Bleeping Computer, mentions a single transaction of $356,954, sent by a victim in Boston to what they thought was the bank account of their business partner.
Gift card fraud still fills a distressing niche in the cybercrime ecosystem, where a gang of crooks redeem gift cards that you paid for, either because you were convinced that those cards were earmarked for something else, or because the crooks got temporary access to one of your online accounts that allowed them to buy gift cards on your dime. The US Department of Justice announced this week the indictment of four suspected gift card scammers, and alleges that that these four had ended up with more than 5000 fradulently obtained cards to spend on themselves.
"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.