Crimes news-Page 23
Four-Year Anniversary of Bitfinex Hack, and $12M of Stolen BTC Moved
Someone with access to the 119,756 Bitcoin stolen from crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016 moved $12 million to unknown wallets in the last six days. According to a series of tweets posted by Whale Alert on August 3, wallet addresses known to be associated with one of the largest breaches ever of a crypto exchange moved 620 Bitcoin (BTC) — worth roughly $7 million at the time of writing — over 4 transactions. On July 29, nearly $5 million — or 448 BTC — was moved in a single transaction. Coupled with the recent movement of $39 million from July …
Bitcoin / Aug. 4, 2020
Hackers Steal Over $1.3M from European Crypto Trading Platform
A European cryptocurrency trading platform called 2gether was recently targeted by an unknown group of hackers. These bad actors stole over 1.183 million Euros ($1.39M) from the service’s investment accounts in a cyberattack on July 31. Ramon Ferraz Estrada, CEO of the crypto firm, revealed in a series of Twitter posts that the hack affected crypto investment accounts and exposed user passwords, though he noted that Euro accounts and wallets “are safe.” To compensate for the stolen funds, 2gether has offered customers its native 2GT token at a price equivalent to 5 cents each. The 2gether team will also attempt …
Bitcoin / Aug. 3, 2020
Garmin Coming Back Online After Hack — Was $10M Crypto Ransom Paid?
Multinational tech company Garmin may have paid some or all of a $10 million crypto ransom to hackers who managed to encrypt the firm’s internal network and take down several of its services on July 23. According to an August 1 report from Lawrence Abrams at Bleeping Computer, Garmin’s IT department used a decryptor to regain access to workstations affected by the initial WastedLocker ransomware attack. The malware took down the company’s customer support, navigation solutions, and other online services. The news outlet reported that the existence of such a protocol means “Garmin must have paid the ransom to the …
Technology / Aug. 3, 2020
Travel Management Company CWT Pays $4.5M Bitcoin to Hackers
U.S.-based corporate travel firm CWT paid $4.5 million in a Bitcoin ransom to hackers who stole sensitive files from the company. According to a July 31 report from Reuters, representatives from CWT (formerly Carlson Wagonlit Travel) paid ransomware hackers 414 Bitcoin (BTC) on July 27 — roughly $4.5 million at the time — over two transactions. Blockchain data shows the criminals transferred the funds to a different address within an hour. The attackers said they used Ragnar Locker ransomware to disable access to files on 30,000 computers at the firm and steal sensitive data. They initially demanded $10 million, but …
Regulation / Aug. 3, 2020
Cryptojacking Attacks Are Seriously Underestimated, Says BlackBerry VP
Cryptojacking attacks are both an internal and external threat, as the hacking groups are getting more organized in attempts to exploit vulnerabilities in the networks. However, there are also cases where some admins use valid entitlements to make money from illegally mining crypto using the firm’s network resources, and many organizations “don’t have great visibility” about it, says Josh Lemos, VP of research and intelligence at BlackBerry. Lemos told Cointelegraph that a crypto mining software is not necessarily malicious but rather opportunistic utilizing compute resources for monetary gain, "although you often find it paired with malicious software,” and it’s also …
Blockchain / Aug. 1, 2020
FinCEN Releases Cybercrime Statement In Lieu of COVID-19
U.S. government agency, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, recently put out a notice mentioning the risks and symptoms of internet-related nefarious activities occurring since COVID-19 arose. "Many illicit actors are engaged in fraudulent schemes that exploit vulnerabilities created by the pandemic," FinCEN said in a July 30 statement. The agency added: "This advisory contains descriptions of COVID-19-related malicious cyber activity and scams, associated financial red flag indicators, and information on reporting suspicious activity." FinCEN's statement follows a massive Twitter hack weeks ago FinCEN's advisory comes after a large-scale Twitter breach affected many top accounts, including Joe Biden, Elon …
Regulation / July 30, 2020
27 Key Execs at PlusToken Scam Are Reportedly Arrested
The story of PlusToken, one of the largest scams in the cryptocurrency industry, takes another twist as dozens of major suspects have been arrested. As many as 27 core PlusToken team members have been arrested by Chinese police, according to a July 30 report by local industry publication ChainNews. According to the report, the total amount of investor losses in the PlusToken scam is estimated at 40 billion Chinese yuan or $5.7 billion. The report also mentions that investigators have also arrested another 82 core members of the scheme. Dovey Wan, founding partner of blockchain-based investment company Primitive Ventures, tweeted …
Regulation / July 30, 2020
Russian Crypto Scams Triple in First Half of 2020
Cybersecurity firms have identified an exponential rise in crypto-related scams in Russia during the first half of 2020. Researchers identified 23,000 sites involved with crypto scams that are still online and targeting new victims. According to Kommersant, which cited research from Kaspersky Labs, the problem is three times greater than during the same period last year. One common example sees victims offered the chance to complete surveys in order to receive commissions — however they’re required to pay an “entrance fee” fee first. Another scam, identified by Qrator Labs, involved sites that offered victims more than $275 per hour to …
Blockchain / July 30, 2020
Trezor Takes a Shot at Ledger After the Hack
Following Ledger's confirmed data breach on June 17, competing hardware wallet manufacturer Trezor cheekily made their followers aware that they frequently purge their systems of all customer order data, including email addresses — apparently every 90 days. Trezor also added a coupon in its tweet that offers 10% discount in its shop, and the code is “DATAPRIVACY.” However, despite the measures announced in the tweet, people asked the company if their “database backups and logs” will be included in the sensitive data purge every 90 days. No response has been provided by Trezor as of press time. Ledger already notified …
Technology / July 29, 2020
Crypto Scammers Turn Toward Terrorism With a Japanese Bomb Threat
Crypto terrorists threatened to bomb a government office on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. They told authorities that they would only disable the alleged explosive device if their crypto ransom was paid. According to FNN, the terrorists sent the Numata Town Hall an email stating they had installed a bomb in a women’s second-floor toilet. They claimed that as long as officials met their payment demands before 03:00 UTC on June 29, the bomb would not be detonated. However, this appears to have been a fake threat. The deadline set by the criminals has passed and the hall remains intact …
Bitcoin / July 29, 2020
$39M of Bitcoin Stolen in 2016 Bitfinex Hack Is on the Move
Some of the 119,756 Bitcoin that was stolen from crypto exchange Bitfinex in 2016 has started moving again. According to a series of tweets posted by Whale Alert on July 27-28, wallet addresses known to be associated with one of the largest breaches ever of a crypto exchange moved 3503 Bitcoin (BTC) — worth roughly $38.7 million — over 12 transactions. The largest individual movement was of 476.32 BTC, or approximately $5.2 million, while the smallest was 2.612703 BTC, or $28,849. Slowly moving billions in crypto To date, the hackers responsible for the Bitfinex breach have moved only 1-2% of …
Bitcoin / July 28, 2020
AMFEIX Threatens Users Who Share Coverage That Criticizes the Company
Last week Cointelegraph published a story about investors having difficulty getting their money back from a crypto fund called AMFEIX, which promised high-yield profits for investors who sent them Bitcoin (BTC). Our story described more than 500 pending withdrawals from users trying to get their money back, and AMFEIX’s unsatisfactory communication with those users. The company addressed its users via its official Telegram channel after the story was published, suggesting that the withdrawal delays were due to technical difficulties that had been an issue since May. It also stated that “members who show loyalty to AMFEIX will have priority” in …
Bitcoin / July 28, 2020