A report released by major crypto exchange Binance illustrates how scams targeting cryptocurrency investors attempt to gain credibility. In the report published on June 30, the exchange explained that its Binance Sentry risk investigation service observed reports of fraudulent investment schemes promising quick or exponential returns on cryptocurrency investments. The frauds do not just concern crypto but also forex, binary options and contracts for difference (CFDs). Binance published the report after a Bitcoin (BTC) scam targeted the residents of Winnipeg, Canada, in late June. Scams are often well-organized, big operations Scam organizations are frequently the subject of regulatory warnings but …

On June 30, a Russian criminal court denied a motion to provide restitution to a victim of what would in many jurisdictions be a felony, arguing that Bitcoin (BTC), as a virtual currency, does not enjoy the same property protection as other assets. The case goes back to 2018, when the two men impersonating Federal Security Service (FSB) agents and their accomplices kidnapped the victim and forced him into giving them 5 million rubles or $90,000 in cash and 99.7 BTC — worth about $900,000 at the time. The kidnappers were sentenced to eight- and ten-year prison sentences. Virtual currencies …

South Korean authorities are investigating a complaint filed by 950 investors who claim to be victims of a crypto-related ponzi scheme. According to TV Chosun, police are looking into reports that over 160 individuals are believed to have operated the alleged scam, known as Futurenet. The Futurenet team is also suspected of stealing almost 20 billion won ($16.66 million) from investors and transferring the money via cryptocurrency. Victims bought using crypto Victims state that they were tricked by buying an “advertising pack” initially using crypto. No ads were ever acquired as a result of the purchase. A police officer from …

The University of California at San Francisco School of Medicine reportedly paid a $1.14 million ransom in cryptocurrencies to the hackers behind a ransomware attack on June 1. According to CBS San Francisco, the UCSF IT staff first detected the security incident, stating that the attack launched by NetWalker group affected “a limited number of servers in the School of Medicine.” Although the areas were isolated by experts from the internal network, the hackers left the servers inaccessible and managed to deploy the ransomware successfully. A statement published by the University of California said: “The data that was encrypted is …

A study published by cybersecurity firm, Proofpoint, shows an increase in email-based phishing attacks used to deliver ransomware over the last few months. According to the report, first-stage deployments of ransomware are reportedly on the rise and have mostly been targeting the United States, France, Germany, Greece, and Italy. The attacks appear to be capitalizing on the influx of people now working from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Research additionally indicates that the ransom demands are very low compared to the amounts usually seen in these attacks. Lower than average ransoms A ransomware application called “Mr. Robot” has mostly targeted …

The Spanish Civil Guard has taken down a dark-web child porn ring that used cryptocurrency transactions to pay for content. Multiple individuals across the country were ultimately arrested. According to the Spanish Civil Guard, the “Jekyll” operation captured three people involved in the “Welcome 2 Video” platform, thanks in part to additional support from United States authorities. Bitcoin and “anonymous tokens” Users would send Bitcoin (BTC) and “other tokens or anonymous money transfer services” to access videos on the dark web site. Members were also rewarded for uploading their own videos and photos to the platform. Analysis of thousands of …

The Australian Cyber Security Centre said a group of “state actors” hacked Australian networks on June 19 and one of the vulnerabilities they exploited is related to cryptojacking malware attacks. According to the 48-page report released on June 24, the threat actors exploited four critical vulnerabilities in Telerik UI, including CVE-2019-18935, which was recently leveraged by the Blue Mockingbird malware gang to infect thousands of systems with XMRRig, a Monero (XMR) mining software. Vulnerability mostly used for cryptojacking purposes Although the advisory didn’t say if hackers could have installed cryptojacking malware during the recent massive cyberattack, such vulnerability is the …

Cybersecurity firm Symantec blocked a ransomware attack by a group known for demanding payment in Bitcoin (BTC) directed at 30 U.S.-based firms and Fortune 500 companies. The announcement published by the cybersecurity firm claims that the Evil Group, the malware gang behind the attacks, targeted the IT infrastructures of the firms. Still, the companies were alerted in time to prevent deployment of the ransomware. The group used the ransomware WastedLocker and managed to breach the security of the victims' networks and unsuccessfully attempted to laying the ground for staging the attacks. Gang asks for million-dollar payments Cointelegraph reported recently a …

The Korea Internet and Security Agency, or KISA, plans to develop an artificial intelligence-based software to trace cryptocurrency transactions on the dark web in response to the Telegram Nth Room sexual ring case. According to New Daily, the government has been working on solutions since January, as authorities faced difficult obstacles amid the investigation of the child porn case in South Korea, where people could buy access to videos with sexually explicit content containing minors. The KISA says that such software relies on machine-learning technology, which automatically traces inside South Korean’s dark web sites that process crypto transactions. The authority …

A report from the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore, or CSA, shows that the number of ransomware attacks cases rose in 2019, compared to figures recorded in 2018. According to a “Cyber Landscape 2019” study published by the Singaporean government, the entity received 35 reports of ransomware incidents in 2019. This represents a surge compared to the 21 cases that reported in 2018. Most of the attacks targeted the travel, tourism, manufacturing, and logistics industries. Phishing attacks also rose in 2019 Phishing cases also saw a sharp increase. The agency discovered 47,500 related URLs in 2019 — up from 16,100 …

Two ransomware gangs reportedly attacked the electronics giant, LG, and Japanese multinational car manufacturer, Mitsubishi. The hackers are now threatening both companies with data leaks. Screenshots posted to the gang’s blog show several files, as well as source code from the attack. No official statement from LG yet As of press time, the electronics giant has not addressed the incident officially. A statement from the ransomware gang alleges that the hackers managed to steal over 40GB of source code from the manufacturer. However, Brett Callow, threat analyst and ransomware expert at malware lab Emsisoft, stated that the alleged proofs don’t …

LocalBitcoins, a major peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange, has purportedly managed to significantly cut the amount of criminal funds on its platform in 2020. The P2P platform has seen a decline of over 70% in transactions from darknet markets between September 2019 and May 2020, LocalBitcoins claims. Jukka Blomberg, chief marketing officer at LocalBitcoins, told Cointelegraph that the drop comes in response to Anti-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer regulations adopted by the platform in September 2019. The calculations are based on blockchain analysis by major crypto analytics firm Elliptic as well as LocalBitcoins’ own “clustering tools,” the firm said. The …