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 …
Computer analysts at cybersecurity firm Zscaler ThreatLabZ have found a new type of trojan that targets cryptocurrency users. In a blog post published on Aug. 8, the company reveals that it identified a new remote-access trojan (RAT) that is able to capture administrative control of the targeted computer, retrieve browser history and look for activities involving cryptocurrency, credit cards, business, social media and others. The malware is called Saefko and is written in .NET, a software framework developed by Microsoft and used to develop a wide range of applications. The post further explains: “RATs are usually downloaded as a result …
The federal judge overseeing Terpin v. AT&T — a legal battle pertaining to stolen crypto via SIM-swapping that has been going on for almost a year — has denied the telecom giant’s motion for dismissal. As previously reported by Cointelegraph, investor Michael Terpin had sued AT&T for $224 million. Terpin reportedly lost $24 million as a result of theft, and is seeking an additional $200 million in punitive damages. Terpin claims that he lost the foregoing assets in two hacks within seven months, due to the telecom provider’s alleged cooperation with the hacker and gross negligence. Judge Wright denied AT&T’s …
The United States Department of Justice (DoJ) has unsealed a fraud complaint against Swedish citizen Roger Nils-Jonas Karlsson and associated firm Eastern Metal Securities (EMS), according to a press release on June 19. According to the DoJ Karlsson and EMS are charged with committing securities fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. Specifically, Karlsson allegedly instructed investors to pay for his products using virtual currencies, such as the cryptocurrency bitcoin (BTC). According to the complaint, the EMS website was registered to a made-up person, and offered shares of “Pre Funded Reversed Pension Plan” of which investors could allegedly purchase shares at …
The European Union has told Malta it needs to improve the resources it has to fight potential financial crime as a result of cryptocurrency popularity, local daily news outlet Malta Today reported on June 5. In a letter to member states advising how to spend EU funds, the European Commission flagged Malta’s burgeoning cryptocurrency sector as a potential weak link in the fight against financial crime. “The Commission, in its recommendations to member states for the use of EU funds, said that the size of Malta’s financial and gaming sector, and the efforts to attract crypto-currency operators required an effective …