Banco Estado, the only public bank in Chile and one of the three largest in the country, had to shut down its nationwide operations on Monday due to a cyberattack that turned out to be a ransomware launched by REvil. According to a public statement, the branches will remain closed for at least one day, but clarified that customers’ funds have not been affected by the incident. Citing sources close to the investigation, ZDNet reported that the REvil ransomware gang is behind the attack. It reportedly originated from an Office document infected with the malware that an employee received and …

Bithumb, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, is reportedly facing more police raids in Seoul. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has conducted additional search and seizure checks at Bithumb’s headquarters in the Gangnam District on Sept. 7, local publication Seoul Shinmun reports. A police official reportedly said that the latest investigations aim to secure additional evidence related to existing allegations against Lee Jung-hoon, chairman of board at Bithumb Korea and Bithumb Holdings. As reported by Cointelegraph, the executive is purportedly accused of major financial fraud involving the BXA token. Promoted as Bithumb’s native token, BXA token has been never …

Crypto YouTuber Sunny Decree recently saw his livestream cut short by YouTube, with the platform stating the video had violated its 'harmful and dangerous policy.’ According to a Sept. 5 tweet from Sunny Decree, the video-sharing platform halted his most recent livestream on his English language channel — based in Switzerland, the content creator also records in German — and warned him a second offense would result in a one-week suspension of service for livestreaming, uploading, and posting. Decree’s channel has been targeted by YouTube before. In December 2019, the platform began aggressively deleting videos with crypto-related content. High-profile channels, …

British multinational security company BAE Systems and the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication, or SWIFT, have published a report revealing how cybercriminals launder cryptocurrency. According to the study Follow the Money money laundering cases via crypto are still relatively small compared to the huge volumes of cash laundered through traditional methods like wire transfers. But there are some notable examples and the report goes in-depth into the money laundering methods employed by Lazarus Group, a well-known hacking gang sponsored by the North Korean regime. Lazarus typically steals the crypto funds from an exchange and then starts to pass transactions …

A judge in the Seoul Central District Court dismissed two claims filed by individuals against the controversial crypto exchange, Bithumb. The individuals were seeking $126,000 and $38,000 respectively for damages related to a data breach incident back in 2017. According to Fn News, plaintiffs Hong and Seo (both named only by their surname) stated that they had lost money due to a phishing attack using private data that was extracted in a hack of Bithumb. The third claimant, Jang, was granted $5,000 to cover his total loss. This amount reflects a much lower dollar value than his initial $27,200 claim. …

One of the men responsible for moderating content on the now defunct AlphaBay darknet market will be in jail until 2031. According to a Sept. 1 statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, 26-year-old Bryan Connor Herrell was sentenced to 11 years in prison for conspiring to engage in a racketeer-influenced corrupt organization, for his role as a moderator on AlphaBay. The platform was one of the largest online marketplaces for drugs as well as guns, credit card data, and other illegal items, paid for with cryptocurrency. “This sentence serves as further proof that criminals cannot hide behind technology to …

A young Russian citizen and his co-conspirators came within an inch of carrying out a major ransomware attack against Tesla — unaware that their target had already turned them in. Last week, the United States Federal Bureau Investigation (FBI) unsealed a criminal complaint against a conspirator in a thwarted ransomware plot against the electric car maker Tesla. On Aug. 22, the Bureau arrested 27 year-old Russian citizen Pavel Kriuchkov in Los Angeles, who had allegedly spent much of his month in the U.S. attempting to recruit a Tesla staffer at the firm’s Gigafactory Nevada site to collude on a nefarious …

The South Korea-based CEO and executive director of a bogus crypto exchange have been jailed by a branch of the Supreme Court in Seoul for their roles in fraudulent trading activity on their platform. As reported by local media outlet Blockinpress, both executives from a trading platform called Komid had their appeals shot down by the court. One will serve three years, the other will serve two. Choi and Park, whose first names aren’t being disclosed by law enforcement, are accused of fabricating trading volume data for fake trades conducted on their platform. Doing so boosts reputation among the crypto …

The Department of Justice has charged Russian citizen Egor Igorevich Kriuchkov with conspiracy to damage a protected computer system after he allegedly bribed an employee of a Nevada company with $1 million in Bitcoin to install malware in that company’s computer system. According to documents from the U.S. District Court of Nevada, Kriuchkov wanted to steal data from the company’s network, then threaten to make that data public unless the company paid a ransom. He first arranged contact with the employee via WhatsApp, then entered the United States on a tourist visa to meet him in person. The District Court …

Mexico’s Financial Intelligence Unit recently published the results of its second National Risk Assessment. The report highlighted that the risk of money laundering in the banking sector far surpasses the issues encountered by fintech companies. According to El Economista, the so-called “G7 banking” group – BBVA, Santander, Citibanamex, Banorte, HSBC, Scotiabank, and Inbursa – registers significantly more money laundering in Mexico than Blockchain firms. Brokerage companies, exchange firms, and banking institutional providers are also included in the “high risk” classification given by the report. Although the fintech sector is still a possible propagator of both money laundering and the financing …

On Monday, two Democratic Representatives asked the Trump administration to provide more information on cryptocurrency recently seized from terrorists. According to an Aug. 26 report by The Hill, the request is related to the millions of dollars in crypto assets that the U.S. Department of Justice seized from several terror organizations. Organizations involved included Al-Qaeda, ISIS, Hamas and al-Qassam. The request was initiated by Emanuel Cleaver — chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on National Security, International Development and Monetary Policy — and subcommittee member Josh Gottheimer. Together, they requested information about the operation from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin …

Waterloo, Ontario is the first Canadian city to issue a general warning after 78 residents were duped by crypto scammers in 2020. According to Global News, Waterloo residents have lost more than $430,000 so far this year, with 29 of the 78 falling victim in July alone. As previously reported, fraudsters have been impersonating government officials, asking victims to deposit money in various Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs under the threat of legal ramifications. Scammers told one resident that more than 25 bank accounts had been opened under his name, and then used to launder money. He was instructed to deposit over …